


Elegant Crimes

by Exterminatorviolence



Category: National Football League RPF
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe Not Football Players, Choking, Criminal Julian, Criminal Tom, Hostage Danny, M/M, Manipulation, Multiple Orgasms, Not Sane or Safe but Consensual, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Rough Sex, Stockholm Syndrome, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-08-24 07:31:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8363290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exterminatorviolence/pseuds/Exterminatorviolence
Summary: "Missing person, Danny Amendola, was last seen, alone, leaving Once and Again New and Used Books after his shift at 1:00pm. If you or anyone you know has any information about him, please call the police and let them know."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sup? So if a person named Amenbrola tells you to watch a show called Sons of Anarchy, don't do it, it will destroy you. This is the result of me binging the entire show in a week: a very self indulgent fic mainly for me and her. (Characters might be OOC)
> 
> There are a few heavier themes, mainly unhealthy relationships and Stockholm Syndrome. There will be additional warnings in the AN in chapters that I feel deserve them. 
> 
> Other than all that, enjoy!

Sometimes there’s moments where Danny will think about his life, how he feels just a little lonely almost all of the time, how he’s pretty sure he’s that friend people keep around out of obligation, how sometimes (always) he wants _more_. Wants to just get away from his boring, lonely life and meet someone who makes him excited to be alive.

His therapist says it’s unhealthy to think about dropping everything and just leaving. She tells him that she thinks it shows that he wants to run away from his problems instead of facing them and defeating them. She says he’s her only patient who has thought about having someone take him away, even if it’s just in a metaphorical way. He thinks he pays her too much money.

Is it so bad though? To maybe want to meet someone who felt the same way? Felt the same desperation of wanting to escape the mundane of everyday? Maybe he’d meet someone who felt the same and they could just leave together, fall in love maybe. At least he wouldn’t feel so lonely all the time.

Sometimes he gets moments like this, and walking to the bank to deposit a cheque after cancelling his therapy was another moment for him to think about his life. It was just a bonus that he ended up behind a really attractive guy who made conversation with him.

At some point they’ve moved close enough together for the guy to wrap his around his shoulders like they’re old pals or boyfriends. It’s scarily close to what Danny  _wants_ and it makes him blush. As he goes to shrug the arm off, there’s something shaped very much like a gun pressed up against his side, drenching the situation in cold water.

“Don’t say anything.” The robber says, voice like ice.

He nods, throat suddenly dry and he wraps an arm around the robber’s waist, partly on instinct and partly because he’s pretty sure fear is about to make his legs give out.

The teller doesn’t notice anything at first, smiling kindly at them. Her eyes only widen when the robber asks for ten thousand dollars in an envelope. Her eyes glance over at Danny who just clenches his jaw and looks away.

“And don’t try to press that panic button or put any ink packs in there. I’ll know if you do and then this poor guy here -” The robber clicks his tongue. “- gets a bullet in his pretty little head.”

The teller nods and clears her throat before getting the money and slipping it over the counter towards them. The robber thanks her and then he’s leading both of them out of the bank.

“You got a car then, sweetheart?”

Danny shakes his head. “I, um, I walked,”

The other man sighs. “Then I guess we’ll just have to walk back.”

He wants to ask _back where_ , but there’s still a gun pointed at him and he really doesn’t feel like getting shot today. So he doesn’t say anything, which doesn’t seem to be a problem for the other guy who fills the silence.

“Tommy’s not gonna be happy I’m bringing you back.” The robber says.

“Who’s that?” Danny asks cautiously.

“Just someone I work with,” The guy gives him a sideways glance and fuck, his eyes are blue as shit. “Normally we don’t take hostages. Too messy for not a lot of gain.”

“You could still let me go,” Danny suggests quickly. “I won’t say anything, I swear.” They turn down an alley where a car is sitting.

“Oh, sweetheart, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You already know Tommy’s name. Mine’s Julian. And now you know both our names, so if I can’t let you go.”

He swallows hard and doesn’t bother to point out Julian’s flawed logic, the guy is obviously more than a little crazy.

He gets shoved into the back of the car and then Julian climbs in after him, tossing the envelope to the driver’s seat where another man is sitting.

“Who the fuck is this?” The guy, Tommy, Danny assumes, asks from his seat.

“This is Danny.” Julian introduces him with a wide smile.

Tommy sighs, like this is something that’s happened before, and what does he know, maybe it has. “Why did you take a hostage?”

Julian pouts and wraps an arm securely around Danny’s shoulders. “I couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean to, I just…” He waves a hand around. “He’s cute, so I took him. We’re keeping him.”

“We’re _not_ keeping him.”

“Well what are we gonna do with him? Kill him?” Julian’s voice is normal now, none of that psychotic lilting from before. “Let’s just keep him for now. It’s already done.”

Tommy is silent for a minute then, “Goddammit, Jules. Fine.” He tosses a roll of duct tape to them. “Tie him up.” He starts the car and rolls out of the alley.

Danny startles and shifts away from Julian. “What? You don’t have to do that.”

Julian shrugs a shoulder and looks only a little apologetic. “Sorry, thems the rules.”

He shifts further away, his back hitting the door. “Really. I’m not going to like, tuck and roll out of the car or anything.”

Tommy turns to look at him at a red light. “Either you get tied up, or you get a bullet to the head.”

And yeah, when it’s put like that, Danny lets his wrists get taped together. He wonders where they’re going and he wonders if anyone will notice that he’s gone. His dog will definitely notice that he's gone. Sam, probably, he’ll wonder why there hasn’t been any texts or calls from him. He figures it doesn’t matter anyway, he’s probably not going to live past this.

He looks over at the blonde who’s eyes are already on him, making him flush slightly. “Where are we going?” He asks quietly.

“We’re headed to Colorado to lay low for a little while.” Julian answers. “We’ll stop at a motel tonight. Get to know each other a little better.” He mentions with a wink.

He flushes further. “‘Get to know each other’?”

“What, you don’t like spooning? Or is it me?” Julian asks, his voice back to the slightly psychotic lilt from before. “It’s me, isn’t it.”

“No, no.” He answers maybe a little too quickly. “It’s not - I’m just...overwhelmed by being kidnapped.”

Julian smirks like he doesn’t believe Danny, he doesn’t blame him, he doesn’t believe himself either. It’s not that he’s not freaking out about being kidnapped (because he is), it’s just...This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? For someone to come sweep him away? Maybe that’s why his heart isn’t pounding as hard as it should be.

It’s quiet, mostly just Julian filling in the silence with little comments and flirtations. It’s about an hour and a half in when Tom curses under his breath and looks at Julian through the rearview mirror.

“There’s a toll booth coming up. Knock him out and hide him.”

Danny’s eyes widen. “No one’s probably even looking for me.”

Tom shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. Do it, Jules.”

“Sorry. It’ll be fine, though.”

Danny goes to try and not have his head bashed in, but Julian’s already swinging a gun and the butt of it hits him in the temple and everything is black.

\-----

Danny blinks awake with a throbbing head and he can’t remember where he is. He goes to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but finds that his wrists are taped together. He remembers, then, that he’s being held hostage in a car on the way to Colorado.

He struggles to sit up, coughing a little, and sees that Julian is nowhere in the car and Tommy is still in the driver’s seat, but they’re stopped at a gas station. It’s dark out now, day turning to night. He wants to ask where they are and how long he’s been unconscious, but doesn’t want to say anything and give Tommy a reason to shoot him while Julian is away.

He doesn’t have to wait for long because the door next to him opens and Julian is sliding in next to him with a bag. He smiles when he sees that Danny’s awake.

“Hey, how’s your head?”

“Um,” Danny clears his throat. “It’s fine, I kind of have a headache?”

“Yeah, I hit you pretty hard. Sorry.” He doesn’t sound sorry, but Danny nods in acceptance anyway. “I got you some meds for it though.” He reaches in the bag as Tommy starts the car again and pulls out a small bottle of advil along with a bottle of water. “Here.”

Danny holds his hands out and takes the three pills that land in them. He holds his hands out again for the water bottle, but Julian just gives him a look like he expects him to move closer. He doesn’t really want to, but the pills are starting to stick to his tongue, so he slowly shifts closer to Julian and opens his mouth for the blonde to pour water into.

“Thanks.” He rasps. His throat feels a lot less like sandpaper now and his head is pounding just a little less too. “Where, uh, where are we?” He asks hesitantly.

“Somewhere in north Texas,” Julian answers. “We’re stopping for the night soon."

Danny nods and silence fills the air for a few minutes. He’s suddenly tired, unsure if it’s because the shock of being kidnapped has left him exhausted, or if those pills weren’t just painkillers.

"You can’t fall back asleep,” Julian says when Danny’s eyelids start to droop. “You might have a concussion and you can’t sleep until we’re sure.”

He thinks it’s rather cruel that Julian tells him he can’t sleep when he’s maybe given him pills that make him drowsy, but he doesn’t say anything, just nods even as he feels his eyelids start to droop again.

“Hey,” Julian snaps, patting him on the cheek. “I just told you not to fall asleep.”

“Sorry.” Danny apologizes, struggling to open to his eyes.

Julian rolls his eyes and pulls Danny closer to him so that their legs touch. Danny’s too tired to try and resist the blonde and he lets his head fall to rest on the other’s lap.

The overhead light turns on and there’s fingers gently probing at his head where he was hit, moving his hair out of the way to check for blood. He tries to push the hands away, but Julian just _tsks_ at him and continues to prod at his head.

“Well there’s no blood.” Julian announces, brushing Danny’s hair back in place.

Danny hums, softly at first and then getting slightly louder when Julian’s fingers continue to run through his hair. Maybe it’s because he’s too tired to protest, or maybe it’s because for the first time he’s not feeling hollow and lonely. He doesn’t want to think too hard on it.

He zones out after that, the fingers in his hair tugging every time he starts to drift off. He doesn’t realize they’ve stopped at a motel for the night until Julian slaps at his cheek gently.

He’s only half awake when he’s pulled into a room that’s dimly lit. There’s one bed, something that Danny really should’ve seen coming, but it still makes him newly anxious. There’s a small bathroom where Julian drags him to, the bright light making him flinch slightly and squint his eyes.

“Sit.” Julian commands, pushing Danny to sit on the closed toilet.

He does with a wince and definitely doesn’t flush a little when Julian tilts his chin up to shine a flashlight in his eyes. He flinches at the light and immediately closes his eyes against it.

“Well, fuck, I think you do have a concussion.” Julian concludes, frowning. “Your pupils aren’t dilated or anythin’, so you can sleep.”

Danny hums in acknowledgement. “Sleep now.”

Julian nods. “Yeah, c’mon.”

He lets himself be led out of the bathroom and he stares at the single king bed. “You...weren’t kidding about the spooning thing, were you.”

Julian giggles. “It’s either spooning or I’m gonna have to handcuff you to the headboard.”

Danny doesn’t know which he would prefer if he’s honest. “Are you gonna untape my hands?” He asks quietly.

“Nah, don’t think so. I like seeing you tied up.” Julian comments, winking.

He doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just grimaces out a smile. He figures he’s going to wear his his clothes to bed, but is surprised when he feels hands at his waist.

“Whoa, whoa, what’re you doing?” He sputters, whirling around to face the blonde.

Julian frowns at him. “We’ll you’re not gonna sleep in your pants, are you?”

“I mean, I - uh,”

Julian rolls his eyes and tugs his jeans down.

“Hey!” Danny protests, slapping at the other’s hands. It doesn’t deter him though, and soon Danny finds himself in just his slightly oversized button down shirt and boxer briefs. He finds himself flushing hard when Julian’s eyes trail down his body, unashamed. His wrists have started to ache and he bets if he looks under the tape, they'll be red raw.

He sits down onto the bed and watches as Julian strips his own shirt and jeans off before collapsing onto the bed beside him. Julian turns his head to look at him.

“Fuck, I need to handcuff you.” Julian groans and rolls out of the bed to get the handcuffs.

Danny watches him, confused. “What? I thought you said I didn’t need them.”

Julian shrugs, walking back to the bed, twirling a set of handcuffs around a finger. “Figure I wouldn’t make you spoon with me.” He sounds uncomfortably human then, giving Danny a choice in spooning.

Danny lets himself get handcuffed to the bed, Julian placing one cuff on his ankle and the other on the iron slat at the foot of the bed. He watches Julian a little despondently, but then the blonde is laying down next to him again and this time the lights are off.

“Try and get some sleep, babe,” Julian suggests. “Tom is gonna want to hit the road early.”

Danny nods. “Yeah, alright. I’m, um…” He wants to say something to convince Julian to let him leave. Or at least let him call Sam and let him know he’s okay and to take care of his dog.

Julian turns on the small TV that sits across from the bed and the news story playing is about him. He turns his head away from the screen, his heart wrenching at seeing his own face on the screen as the reporter asks civilians to call if they have any information on him.

“Hey look, it’s you,” Julian comments, grinning. His smile falls when he sees Danny face. “Hey, are you okay?”

Danny shrugs. “I’m fine.” He lies quietly.

Julian frowns. “There’s a game on tonight, you like the Patriots?”

His head snaps to look over at the blonde, surprised. “Yeah.”

Julian grins at him and turns to the game. The smile makes Danny’s heart lift just a little, and he’s glad there’s something that puts them on more even ground.

They talk throughout the game, shouting at the refs when they make a bad call, and for the first time in a long time, Danny feels content. He doesn’t feel awkwardly left out, but like he’s wanted. He can almost hear his therapist berating him for finding comfort in being kidnapped and cuffed to the bed.

They end up falling asleep around midnight as the fourth quarter comes to a close, curled up around each other.

\-----  
  
Danny wakes up to a warm weight pressed up against his side, an arm slung over his waist. He surprises himself by not being repulsed or scared and he finds himself relaxing into the bed again.

He lies there, half awake and warm, until there’s a loud banging at the door. Danny jumps, heart rate rocketing, while Julian wakes with a start.

“Hey, get up! We gotta get going!”

Julian groans and stretches until his back pops. “Alright, we’re coming!” He yells back. He smiles at Danny as he walks past the bed and into the bathroom.

Danny sits up, looking at the cuff that’s still connecting his right ankle to the foot of the bed. He hears the shower start and he lays back down onto the bed to wait.

He dozes off, waking up when Julian pats at his cheek, leaning over him with dripping hair.

“Hey, sleepy head,” Julian greets. “You gotta get up and put your pants on.” He helps Danny up and uncuffs his foot, tossing him his jeans.

Danny swallows against the anxiety that starts roiling in his stomach as he realizes that, no, despite what he wishes, this really isn’t someone like him coming to take him away to a life of excitement, this is a psychopath who has kidnapped him because he thought he was cute.

“Can I, uh, can I use the bathroom?” He asks, hesitantly.

“What? Yeah, of course.”

Danny nods and shuffles into the bathroom. There’s no window, unsurprisingly, so he quickly pisses and awkwardly shimmies into his jeans. He wonders if he can just try to sneak out while they’re busy loading the car or something. He figures he’d just get shot, probably by Tommy.

He shuffles back out where Julian is sitting on the bed, fully dressed, flipping through channels.

“Hey, here’s your shoes.” Julian says, tossing them to him.

Danny flails and manages to catch one, the other hitting him in the chest and thudding to the ground. He looks down at them and wonders how he’s supposed to be able to put these on with taped hands.

“I, uh,” He clears his throat and tries again. “I can’t put these on with um…” He trails off.

Julian looks at him, confused at first, and then says, “Ohh, yeah, totally,” He shuts the TV off and gestures for Danny to sit on the bed. “I got it.”

Danny watches as Julian ties his shoes for him like he’s a child and he has the brief thought that he could just kick him in the face and get to a phone. Tommy holding a gun to him flashes through his mind again, along with another pulse of anxiety, and he decides against doing anything.

“Alright,” Julian says, standing and smiling at him. “We better get going before Tommy comes back.”

Danny swallows hard and follows Julian out of the room and into the parking lot. His heart rate starts ramping up again and he can feel himself start to hyperventilate.

He doesn’t realize he’s stopped moving until Julian looks back at him.

“Hey,” Julian says. “You coming?” He asks as if it’s such a simple concept.

Danny shakes his head and starts to back up. “I...I can’t.” He can vaguely hear Tommy yelling at Julian to just shoot him already, but the blood rushing in his ears coupled with his breathing, drowns the rest of it out.

He shouts when someone touches his arm and he blinks rapidly, tears spilling over.

“Hey, hey,” Julian coos, softly. “You’re fine.”

He shakes his head again, sobs wracking his shoulders. “No. No, I don’t want to go.” He tries to wrench his arms away from the blonde, but the other just holds tighter and drags him into the back of the car.

“No!” He shouts again. “I don’t want to be here!”

He scrabbles at the door but is pulled back against Julian’s chest. He gives up then, buries his face in Julian’s chest and lets himself be held as he sobs, begging through hitched breaths. He’s not sure what he’s begging for, to be let go or for someone to hold him tighter.

“It’s okay.” Julian whispers to him and it’s not, not really, but Danny wants to believe that it could be. To just be told by someone that things, for once, are going to be okay.

“It’s going to be fine.” Julian whispers again. This time Danny nods a little in agreement and stops thinking about it, lets himself give in to the comfort for once as they make their way to Colorado.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Danny and Julian are more alike than either originally thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually supposed to be up on Sunday, but I went to the Bills and Patriots game and underestimated the amount of time it would take me to get back to Rochester from Buffalo. But here's over 4000 of some character/relationship building. There's also some handfeeding because fuck you that's why. Fun sex in the next chapter<3
> 
> Also, more tags will be added, so like, read them so you know what you're getting into. There's gonna be some darker themes regarding unhealthy relationships.

Danny has exhausted himself, eyes now dry and stinging, face feeling tight. He’s lying limply against Julian still, both stretched out across the back seat. It’s quiet in the car, the only noises coming from the staticy radio and the soft coos from Julian.

“Are you feeling better?” Julian asks softly. He’s running his fingers through Danny’s hair, scratching gently at his scalp.

Danny tilts his head, just a little, in a nod. His mind is number than it has been in a while and he’s still more than a little terrified, but he’s better than he was a few hours ago.

“That’s good,” Julian says. “I’m gonna take the tape off your wrists.”

It makes Danny perk up, blinking, surprised, at the blonde. He half expects the other to laugh and say that he’s just kidding, but he watches as Julian leans over to the front seat to pick up a pair of surgical scissors. He carefully cuts the duct tape and then peels it off of Danny’s sore wrists.

“Thanks.” Danny murmurs. He flushes when Julian brings his wrists up and gently kisses each.

“I’ll still need to handcuff you, but I have a pair of cuffs that are more comfortable than tape.”

Part of Danny wants to laugh because of course Julian has some kind of cuffs that are comfortable. They’re probably made out of leather or silk or something. He doesn’t laugh though, just forces out a smile, unmoving from his original position.

“Hey, you can sleep if you want.” Julian suggests.

He does want to sleep, but despite being exhausted, his eyes don’t feel heavy.

“I want to,” He admits quietly, voice barely above a whisper. “I can’t though.”

Julian frowns, reaches into the duffel bag that’s lying on the car floor and his hand comes back with a small pink pill. Danny eyes it warily then looks up to catch Julian’s eyes, questioning.

“It’s fine, it’s just Benadryl.” Julian reassures him.

He takes it, too exhausted and wishing for sleep to question it further. It takes a few minutes for the drowsiness to take affect, but he soon finds unconsciousness creeping up on him. Now that he is tired, he doesn’t want to fall asleep; afraid that if he wakes up he’ll...still be here, across the state lines, hopes of getting out diminished almost entirely.

(He doesn’t want to think that he’s more worried he’ll wake up back in his apartment, alone and craving something to live for.)  
\-----  
Julian watches as Danny swallows the pill without question, his eyes red rimmed. They’ll be in the car for a while and he’s pretty sure that Danny will be out for most of it, the not-quite-Benadryl taking effect. Well, Julian hopes Danny will be out of it, he doesn’t know how long he can handle having the brunette gaze up at him with those big brown eyes. Big brown eyes that hold a kind of innocence that Julian wants to just _ruin_.

He doesn’t want to rape the poor thing, wants Danny to give into his desires willingly. When Danny cries for him, and he will, he wants those tears to be from pleasure.

“We really can’t keep him.” Tom says from the front seat.

Julian doesn’t take his eyes off of Danny when he answers. “We’re not going to need to,” He sighs a little. “I just thought he was cute, I wanna fuck him. And then after that, we can get rid of him.”

Tom makes a noise that sounds like an exasperated growl and his voice raises an octave. “And how are we going to get rid of him?”

He shrugs. “Let him wander off alone, leave him blindfolded and cuffed in the middle of nowhere, shoot him.” He rattles off suggestions.

“We can’t just kill him! Then the cops will be on our asses worse than they are now!”

“Be quiet, you’ll wake him up.” Julian shushes Tom, glaring.

“He’s not a child,” Tom scoffs. “Just fuck him and get rid of him, alright?”

Julian shrugs a shoulder, nodding. “Fine, it’ll take a little while. Not too long, I promise,” He adds when Tom gives him a warning look. “I can tell he already likes me, this, he just doesn’t want to admit it.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Tom asks.

Julian laughs. “I’m never wrong.” His eyes drift back to Danny and he continues to card his fingers through his hair. “Sweet baby.” He coos quietly. Then, louder, “You know, I could drive for a little while.”

Tom answers without missing a beat. “Yeah, no thanks. You’ll get lost and I don’t want to be stuck back there with him.”

“Suit yourself.”  
\-----  
Danny gets woken up a gentle shake to his shoulder. The sun is high in the sky so he assumes he was out for a handful of hours. He yawns, blinking heavily, not quite wanting to wake up yet.

“Hey,”

Danny tilts his face up towards the voice. “Where are we? What time is it?” His words slur together slightly.

“Passed through Oklahoma to Colorado. It's a little after noon, you were out for a while. We’re at a diner, you hungry?”

“Not really.” He answers, allowing himself to be sat up. He's facing away from Julian and notices that Tommy isn’t in the car anymore, just him and Julian.

“I have cuffs for you.” Julian says and he’s holding a pair of leather cuffs that are lined with purple padding, an O ring adorning each. They’re connected with a small chain with small padlocks locking them together.

He’s still drowsy, trying to blink himself awake and aware. He goes to turn to face Julian, but a hand on his shoulder stops him.

“No, behind your back.”

That gets him more aware and he stiffens. “But…”

A hand grips the back of his neck, nails digging into sensitive flesh, making him wince.

“ _Hands behind your back_.” Julian says again, voice low.

A shiver goes down Danny’s back and he swallows hard, putting his hands behind his back before he even realizes it. He doesn’t want to think too hard about it, but in his slightly foggy state, he can’t deny the flash of arousal he feels when the padded cuffs are put on.

“Aren’t I going to look...odd?” Danny asks, quietly.

Julian shrugs a shoulder. “If anyone says anything or gives you a weird look, tell me and I’ll put one in their kneecaps.”

He frowns, worried that he doesn’t feel upset or repulsed by that.

Julian opens the door and helps Danny out, who squints and blinks rapidly at the bright light. He’s feeling more awake now, but everything feels slower than usual, like he’s coming down from a not so great high.

A bell above the door dings when they enter the diner and they spot Tommy easily. There’s only a few others in the diner, a man sitting at a stool and a family in a booth.

Both turn to look at who’s walked in, the man’s eyes narrow when they pass by and the mother of the family sputters something, causing the husband to glance their way as well. Both parents are clean cut looking and they direct their child’s eyes away from them, while glaring at them.

It makes the back of Danny’s neck flush, and he wonders what he must look like: trying not to meet anyone’s eyes with his hands cuffed behind his back, a flush creeping up his neck and face, hair sleep mussed, with Julian leading him with a hand on the back of his neck.

Tommy chokes on his coffee when he sees them.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Julian just shrugs and pushes Danny into the booth before sliding in beside him.

“They’re more comfortable than the tape,” Julian says in explanation. He turns to Danny. “Right, Danny?”

Danny looks up, meets Tommy’s eyes for a second, then looks to Julian quickly before looking back down at the table. “...Yes.”

Julian smiles wide at Tommy. “See?”

Tommy just grunts and then there’s a waitress at their table, looking anywhere but at Danny. Which is fine by him, he’s trying not to look at anyone either.

His appetite has all but left and he tunes out the others when they order, instead looking out the window. He watches the cars pass by on the road and wonders if there’s anyone like him in one.

He wonders if Sam is looking for him, doubts it. He bets that the people who contacted the police did it because he didn’t show up for his next shift. He hopes Sam is at least looking after his dog.

He misses his dog. A little black lab that’s only a year old. He remembers when Sam got her for him for his twenty fifth birthday. Sam asked what he wanted for his birthday and he said _I want to be loved_. Sam looked at him oddly, not sure how to take that.

He came back on Danny’s birthday with a small, wriggling black lab in his arms, a red bow wrapped around her neck. Danny named her Galaxy.

Julian snaps him out of his thoughts by poking him in the cheek.   

“Hey,” Julian says.

“Hm?” Danny turns his body. There’s two plates in front of Julian, one empty, the other with bacon and scrambled eggs. “Hi.”

Julian smiles. He holds a small piece of bacon up to his face. “Here.”

Danny looks from it to his face. “Uh…”

The blonde rolls his eyes. “Open your mouth, dummy.”

“I'm not really hungry.” He protests, but he follows the order anyway, tentatively, and Julian puts the piece of bacon in his mouth. He chews it slowly, Julian watching him until he swallows it.

“Um, thanks.” He says quietly.

Julian smirks and this time holds up a bit of scrambled eggs in his fingers. Danny stares harder at the food this time, more unwilling to eat it.

“Go on.” Julian encourages.

He takes a quick glance to Tommy, who's looking at them with barely concealed amusement. He swallows hard, heart starting to beat faster. He convinces himself that it's anxiety and not because he's finding some kind of twisted, backwards pleasure at being hand fed while his own hands are tied behind him.

Julian is still looking at him with encouraging eyes, so he lets his mouth fall open and closes his lips around the blonde’s fingers. The eggs taste...not bad, but like how diner food tastes.

Julian’s eyes light up when he accepts the food. It continues like this, with small intervals of water, until all the food is gone and the waitress has come back to collect the plates and leave the check.

Tommy leaves a few bills and grunts something about using the bathroom.

“Hey, you know the Patriots won last night?” Julian asks.

No, Danny didn't know that, and he looks over to him. “That's good,” He answers. "It _was_ the Broncos they were playing.”

Julian laughs, making his eyes sparkle, and Danny finds himself smiling back. It's almost like they're on equal footing here, like Danny wasn't Kidnapped.

“Who do they play next?” Danny asks, leaning more towards Julian.

“I think the Jets,” Julian laughs again at the face Danny gives him. “Yeah, I hate them too. We can watch the game together Thursday night if you want.”

Danny nods. “Yeah.” He’d like that.

Julian smiles, wide. “Awesome.”

Tommy comes back then, bursting the small bubble they've managed to surround themselves in.

“Come on, we gotta get going.”

They follow Tommy out of the diner, Julian leading Danny out by the arm. He's not looking forward to getting back in that car, but Julian next to him makes it a little better.  
\-----  
Julian is happy he's found something that Danny likes to talk about, figures he can exploit it until Danny feels like he can be trusted. It's a plus that the Patriots is also a team he likes.

He thinks about giving Danny another pill to help him sleep the rest of the way to the motel, but decides against it when they get in the car and Danny sits close enough for their legs to touch. Julian knows Danny is doing it subconsciously and he mentally high fives himself.

He smirks and gives Tom a look in the mirror as they pull out of the parking lot and into the road. It’s a look that says _I told you_ , and Tom just glares back at him.

He turns back to Danny and manages to shift closer to him, smiling in amusement when Danny smiles shyly back, but doesn’t try to move away. The car ride is silent apart from the radio that goes in and out of service. Danny drifts off again at some point, head leaning on Julian’s shoulder and Julian smiles to himself, lets himself run his fingers through the brunette’s hair briefly.

He figures he could break Danny in a few days, maybe a week, and then Tom can have his wish and they can get rid of him. Walk in the park. Julian’s had more stubborn people he’s managed to get with.  
\-----  
Danny doesn’t realize he’s fallen back asleep, didn’t think he could, felt a little exhausted, but not eye weary or tired.

He wakes up on a bed in a new motel room, hands cuffed in front of him this time. The room door opens and Julian walks in, humming to himself and carrying a plastic bag.

Julian stops mid hum, smiling when he sees that Danny is awake. “Oh, hey, you’re awake.”

Danny struggles to sit up and glances at the plastic bag in Julian’s arms. “What’s that?”

“Food.” Julian responds easily, toeing his shoes off and sitting on the bed next to him. “Cuffed your hands in front so you could feed yourself this time.”

Danny smiles and chuckles. “Thanks.”

Julian nods at him and takes out boxes of what looks like Chinese take out. He tips the bag and forks, napkins, and small packets of soy sauce fall out onto the bed.

“I didn’t know what you liked and I didn’t want to wake you, so...I hope this is good?” Julian trails his sentence into a question.

“Yeah,” Danny answers. He lets Julian open a container of lomein and hand it to him. “Are we staying here for a while?” He asks.

“Only for a week or two. Until the news for you has died down a little.”

The mention of his face in the news makes Danny swallow the food in his mouth hard over the lump that’s appeared in his throat. It reminds him that there’s a small dog named Galaxy wondering where he is, reminds him that there probably isn’t anyone but his landlord and boss looking for him.

Julian’s voice brings him back to the present. “Sorry, I didn’t realize...sorry.”

The genuinity of the apology surprises Danny and he blinks at the blonde. “Sorry?”

Julian nods. “Yeah, I mean, I know how much it sucks when you feel like you’re not being missed.” At Danny’s furrowed brow look, he continues. “You know, the feeling when you want something more in life and you feel like if you left or died, no one would miss you.”

Danny’s quiet for a minute, then, “Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same except you don’t exist? Everything functions perfectly without you,” He chuckles, self deprecating. “The thought terrifies me.” He doesn’t look up at Julian, afraid he might see disgust in his eyes.

“Yes.”

Danny’s head snaps up. “You have?”

Julian nods. “It’s why I started running with Tommy. I was...twenty two, playing football at Kent State, had a girlfriend who loved me...but I hated it. It felt fake, I wanted something more,”

“What happened?”

“I went into the NFL draft. I didn’t get drafted by anyone, but I was offered to go play up in Canada. I thought about it, and then I met Tommy.

“I met Tommy when he tried to rob my house. Instead of calling the cops, I asked if I could join him. He was wary at first, but after I told him everyone I knew thought I was going to Canada anyway, he let me. Guess he was lonely.”

Danny nods along to the story. “How long have you guys been running together?”

Julian hums, thinking. “About four years. Tom has had thoughts about stopping a couple of times, but he’s never had a reason too.”

“Why does he do it? Robbing people I mean.”

Julian shrugs. “I never asked and he never told me.” He coughs a bit awkwardly. “I think there’s a Monday night game on.”

Danny recognizes the subject change and goes with it. “Who’s playing?”

“Dunno.” Julian shrugs, switching the television on. The Giants are on against the Ravens, a game that neither seem to be that into. A quarter goes by before Julian turns and says, “So you really don’t have a girlfriend or anything?”

The question shocks Danny and he chuckles. “Nah. I’ve got a dog, but that’s about it,” He sighs. “Haven’t had a boyfriend since high school.” He admits.

Julian chokes on his food. “Really? Are you a virgin?”

This time, it’s Danny’s turn to choke on his food. “What?” He can feel a flush creeping up his neck.

Julian smirks at him. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Wait, no, I’m not -” He tries to protest. He’d be lying, he’s very much a twenty six year old virgin, but it’s not something he likes to advertise or anything.

Julian smiles. “It’s fine, it’s cute.”

Danny furrows his brows. “Whatever.” He mutters.

Julian laughs this time and it feels nice. Danny can almost forget that his hands are cuffed in front of him and that he’s in some random motel in the middle of Colorado. He can almost pretend that he’s just hanging out with a friend, someone who feels the same way as him and knows what that hollow feeling he always seems to have is.

The night drags on and Danny finds himself growing tired, wonders briefly if Julian could give him something to help him sleep. He doesn’t ask though, just lets his ankle get cuffed to the foot of the bed again and lays in the dark until sleep takes him. 

  
Danny wakes up to the sound of the shower going off in the bathroom. He sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes, looking around the room. There’s a paperclip sitting on the nightstand and he picks it up, unbending it so it’s straight.

He realizes he could pick the locks of his handcuffs. His heart starts to beat faster, adrenaline at the thought of getting out of the cuffs. He doesn’t actually know how to pick a lock properly, but he remembers Sam showing him once when they were younger.

Turns out it’s only a little hard and he manages to pick the lock to the cuff on his ankle in the short time that Julian is in the shower. He moves to the other night stand where there’s a telephone. He dials in Sam’s number, his other ear hearing for Julian.

Sam picks up after the third ring. “ _Hello?_ ”

Danny feels like he could cry. “Oh my god, Sam?”

_“Danny?_ ” Sam sounds more alert now. “ _Where the fuck are you?_ ”

He ignores the question. “Are you taking care of Galaxy?”

“ _What? Yes, of course. But_ where are you?”

The shower shuts off and Danny hisses a curse. “Look, I’ve gotta go,”

“ _Just tell me where you are. Anything_.”

“I...can’t, just...hug Galaxy for me.”

Sam swears. “ _What the fuck, Danny. Are you alright, at least?”_

Danny goes to answer, but is tackled and pinned to the wall. The phone gets hung up and there’s a hand fisted in his hair.

“What were you doing, huh?” Julian asks, voice sharp.

“N - nothing, I just wanted to make sure my dog was being taken care of.” Danny explains, praying that Julian can tell he’s not lying.

“How’d you manage to get out of the cuffs?”

He tries to shake his head, but the hand in fingers in his hair prevent him from doing so. “I, I, there was a paperclip and I -”

“You picked the lock?” Julian asks. He sounds impressed and he softens his hold on him.

“Yeah. I wasn’t trying to escape, I swear.” Danny pleads. He feels bad and he’s not sure why. Past the scared nerves and adrenaline of being caught calling Sam, Danny can’t help but feel like he’s taken three steps back in their developing relationship.

Julian’s quiet for a minute and then he steps back from Danny, letting him turn around. “Let’s say I believe you,” He starts, giving Danny a flutter of hope. “How do I know you’re not gonna try to pick your way out of the cuffs again?”

Danny isn’t sure how to answer that, doesn’t know how to let Julian know that he really doesn’t want to leave, despite calling Sam and picking the locks.

Julian sighs a little. “I guess there isn’t a way.” His eyes light up then. “Lemme see if I can get some actual picks for you, see how well you can really pick locks.”

He hesitantly smiles, the suggestion unexpected. “You’re not mad?”

The blonde scoffs. “I’m upset, maybe a little disappointed, but I’m not mad.” He smiles back at Danny then and it lifts his hopes further. He presses a kiss to Danny’s cheek before moving to his duffel bag to tug a shirt on.

Danny can feel his face flush and he raises his hands to lightly touch where Julian kissed him. He can’t remember the last time he was kissed by someone who didn’t feel sorry for him. And maybe he still hasn’t been kissed by someone who doesn’t pity him, but he can pretend that Julian really likes him. After all, Julian did kidnap him because he was cute, that counts for something, right?

Julian turns back to him. “Hey, go shower and shit. You can borrow some of my clothes and we can go buy some for you.” He comes back over to Danny to unlock the handcuffs and leads him to the bathroom.

“What if people recognize me?” He asks.

Julian shrugs a shoulder. “They won’t. Like you said, no one’s lookin’ for you.”

“Yeah, alright.” Danny replies, chest surprisingly not clenching from the bluntness of Julian’s comment. He closes the bathroom door behind him to shower.  
\-----  
Julian waits until he hears the shower run before leaving the room and entering Tom’s. Tom has a cup of coffee in his hand and is typing something on his laptop.

“Hey, dude, guess what?” He greets.

Tom doesn’t look up from the screen. “What?”

Julian frowns. “You could at least pretend to guess.”

Tom sighs and looks at him. “You fucked the hostage and now we can get rid of him.” He deadpans.

“No, I wish,” Julian rolls his eyes. “Actually, he can pick locks. Not, like, well or anything; he barely managed to get one lock open before I grabbed him. But he seems to have more uses than just being a cute piece of ass.”

“Did you cuff him again?” Tom asks, ignoring the good news like usual.

He waves the older man off. “He’s in the shower right now. I told him I’d try to get some real lock picks to see how good he really is.”

“Jules,” Tom sighs. “We can’t just buy him lock picks so he can escape.”

“But he wasn’t trying to escape!” Julian protests. “He just wanted to make sure someone was taking care of his dog. Besides,” He adds. “I’ll punish him later.”

Tom makes a face. “Gross. Don’t tell me those things.” He looks back at his laptop. “Buy whatever you want for him, just don’t let him trick you and escape.”

Julian rolls his eyes. “That won’t happen. He doesn’t want to leave. I overheard him on the phone, he didn’t even say he was kidnapped or where he is. Just asked if his dog was taken care of. He doesn’t want to escape. Hell, it’s only been two fucking days and he’s obviously lonely enough to think he likes me.”

“So he’s just like you then, huh,” Tom notices.

“What? No. You didn’t kidnap me, I wanted to leave.”

“And it sounds like Danny did too, just didn’t have anyone to ask.” Tom points out.

Julian huffs, annoyed that Tom has a fucking point. “What-the-fuck-ever. Let me just fuck him and we can get rid of him.”

Tom hums, obviously not believing that he can fuck Danny without feelings. Which he can and is going to do.

“I’m leaving now.” He announces, only to get another noncommittal hum.

“Don’t spend too much.”

“Whatever.” He mutters, leaving Tom to do whatever it is he’s doing on his laptop. His mood has sullied significantly and he frowns to himself as he gets back to his and Danny’s room. “Fucking Tom who thinks he knows everything.”

Danny is out of the shower and sitting on the bed when Julian enters the room. His hair is still damp and he’s dressed in Julian’s hoodie and jeans. They both fit rather well and Julian can’t help but feel a bit possessive of the other.

“Hey, you’re back.” Danny smiles when he sees Julian.

Julian’s mood elevates a little. “Yep. Ready to leave? Tommy gave me permission to buy you some lock picks.”

Danny nods and slips off the bed, coming toward him. He pulls the cuffs out and revels in the wide eyed look Danny gives them.

“Can I…” Danny starts. He doesn’t finish and just sighs and holds his hands out, defeated.

Julian sees this for the chance to show that he trusts Danny, thus he can be trusted in return. He tosses the cuffs to the bed. “C’mon.” He grips Danny’s hand in his own, smirking to himself when the brunette takes it without resistance.

It should almost be suspicious; how easy it seems that Danny is falling for him - or rather the idea of him. Maybe Julian is just that good, or maybe they’re more alike than he thinks, either way, Julian bets that by the end of the week he’ll have Danny begging. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spotted the Undertale quote, you're awesome. Comments and kudos are love.  
> I still blame amenbrola for this.<3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A phone call changes their plans for a few weeks of lying low.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to post this until this weekend, but I posted it because I felt that with the election a lot of people are shaken up. I hope this brings some amount of happiness or distraction from everything else. I love you. 
> 
> Sons of Anarchy characters will be introduced in next chapter, they're mentioned here. I'm excited for them to appear. Thanks, amenbrola, my soul is still broken.
> 
> NOTE: There's no sex in this chapter (next one, promise) but there are some scenes where it could look like dubious consent. Read at your own risk. More unhealthy relationship aspects arise as well.

It goes on like this for a week and a half; Danny and Julian spend more time with each other, discussing everything from favorite football games to family life. Danny learns that Julian’s favorite band when he was younger was Muse, and how he grew up in California.

Danny tells Julian how his parents died when he was a teenager, but how he refused to go to a halfway house. He explained how he dropped out of college after his first year and a half because he couldn’t stand the fucking routine of it and how he felt like it was all pointless anyway. He gets better at lockpicking and he looks at Julian as a...friend. Looks at Julian with more heated expressions and feels Julian looking at him back.

He learns a little more about Tommy as well. How he’s still technically married to someone, but never talks to him.

“Yeah,” Julian says, nodding at the surprised expression Danny gives him. “He’s married to an NFL player, actually. Well technically married. They don’t talk. Well, Tommy tries to talk to him occasionally, but he doesn’t really want to talk to him.”

They’re sat in the same motel, Julian watching as Danny tries to pick the locks to the cuffs with new lockpicks.

“So they never talk?” Danny asks.

“Not really. Only a few people know they’re married.”

Danny hums, tongue poking out from his mouth as he concentrates. “Who is it? That he’s married to?”

Julian is hesitant to answer. “I really shouldn’t say, but it rhymes with Crew Dredsloe.”

Danny’s eyes widen and he pauses his lockpicking attempt to look up at the blonde. “No fucking way.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how they even met. Tommy doesn’t go into it much. I only found out by accident when I walked in and he was on the phone with him.” Julian shrugs.

It’s quiet then, Danny trying to listen for the telltale clicks. He smiles triumphantly when the lock pops open, looking up at Julian who smiles back at him.

“Good job, babe.”

Danny feels warmth at the praise, something that’s been happening more and more often. He doesn’t question it, likes the warmth that seems to spread through him whenever Julian gives him praise or looks at him warmly. They haven’t kissed again, not that the first time was a real kiss or anything, but Julian hasn’t even tried to do anything like that since. Danny hates that that makes his stomach turn and heart twist.

Julian takes the cuffs away. “You wanna give it one more go? See if you can pick them faster?”

He doesn’t really want to. His fingers and wrists are sore from the countless times he’s picked the locks already, but Julian gives him a look that tells him that his question wasn’t a question. So he stretches out his wrists and takes the cuffs back from Julian to get back to work.

He falls asleep sometime between midnight and one, hands cuffed together and cradled under his pillow, attached to the headboard with a small chain. Julian is asleep behind him, one arm slung over his waist.  
\-----  
They’re woken up early by Tom banging on their motel room door.

“Julian, I need to talk to you!”

“Wha -? Oh, shit.” Julian grumbles out. “Okay!” He shouts back, sitting up. He looks to Danny who is blinking awake now too. He ruffles the brunette’s hair and makes his way over to the door.

He cracks the door open. “What’s up?” He greets.

“We gotta get going.” Tom says. “Where’s your boy?”

Julian makes a face at _your boy_ , but he just gestures behind him. “Waking up. Where we headed to? I thought we were layin’ low here for a while.”

Tom doesn’t even miss a beat. “Charming.”

“What? Did something happen?” He asks, eyes widening. He can hear Danny shuffling around the bed and he lowers his voice. “Are they cashing in their favor?”

Tom nods. “Get packing. We’re due there in four days.” His eyes flick to the room then back to the blonde’s face. “And figure out what you’re doing with him. If he can pick locks, he’s useful, so decide if we’re going to dump him or not. It won’t look good showing up with a hostage.”

Julian waves him off. “It’ll be fine. We can decide if we want to dump him in Charming. I’m sure the club wouldn’t mind doing it.”

Tom makes a face, never one for handing someone over to someone else to finish. Felt that if they picked someone up, they should be the one to finish it. “Just get ready.”

Julian mock salutes and shuts the door, walking back over to the bed. Danny looks up at him, eyes wide and still a little sleepy. He smiles warmly up at Julian, stretching out on the bed. The sheet slips down, revealing part of his torso and Julian lets his eyes travel down his body.

“We’ve gotta get going, got some business.” Julian explains as he removes the pillow behind Danny’s head and drops a lockpick next to his hands. “Get yourself out of those by the time I get back.”

Danny grumbles, upset. “Or else what?”

Julian leans down over him and pats Danny’s cheek not gently. “Or else I leave you here,” He trails a knuckle over a cheekbone. “And you don’t want that, do you?”

Danny blinks at him, eyes suddenly wide in fear. Julian smirks at him and leaves for the bathroom to shower.  
\-----  
Danny can hear Tommy and Julian talking at the door, too quietly for him to hear about what though. His mind is looking at Tommy in a different light, now that he knows that the older man is _married_. It gives Tommy a more human side.

Julian comes back and Danny smiles up at him, still a little sleepy. He stretches as best he can with his hands cuffed above his head and revels as he watches Julian’s eyes drift.

He goes to ask what was wrong, but Julian beats him to it, saying they’re leaving. He’s confused, thought that they were supposed to be laying low for a couple of weeks at least, but he doesn’t comment.

He does comment when Julian leaves a lockpick with him, telling him to get himself out. He doesn’t want to, picked locks last night for what felt like _hours_ , so he asks why against his better judgement. Julian’s eyes get a sharp glint then as he leans down and says _or else I leave you here and you wouldn’t want that, would you?_

He feels ice go through his veins at the threat, no matter how thinly veiled the threat seems to be. A knuckle runs gently over his cheekbone, leaving warmth in its wake and he watches as Julian enters the bathroom and closes the door.

He tilts his head up as much as he can, fingers finding and gripping the lockpick. His tongue pokes out from his mouth as he tries to angle the pick correctly. He’s half blind and upside down and can feel his wrist start to cramp already.

He hears the shower start and he really starts to unlock the handcuffs. He’s got one unlocked and is working hard to unlock the other one when the shower shuts off. He fumbles with the lockpick and drops it, cursing as he starts to grope around for it. He can’t...he can’t find it and he tries to shift his head around to try and look for it.

His finger bumps it and he sighs in relief as he starts on the second cuff again. He doesn’t anticipate the bathroom door opening and he looks over as Julian saunters out, towel drying his hair, a pair of jeans on his hips.

Julian sighs when he gets closer to Danny. “Babe.” He says, sounding mildly disappointed.

“Sorry...I didn’t - I tried - please don’t leave me here.” Danny stutters, heart racing. He expects a frown and maybe to be yelled at, expects to be left behind. He doesn’t expect Julian to straddle his hips and smirk down at him.

“Hey,” Julian says gently, hands cradling Danny’s face. “I wouldn’t leave you here, would I?”

Danny shakes his head.

“And do you know why?”

He shakes his head again.

Julian leans down, closer. “Because I care about you.” He smiles; something sweet and a little bit dangerous. “And I’m the only one, isn’t that right?”

Was that right? He had a dog who he cared about. But a dog can’t care about him the way a person - the way Julian - does.

“Hey, hey,” Julian’s voice interrupts his thoughts, hands tightening just slightly on his face. “ _I’m the only one who cares about you_ .” He repeats. “ _Right_?”

Danny nods this time, in somewhat of a daze, seemingly getting lost in Julian’s eyes and voice. His eyes keep flicking down to the blonde’s lips and he finds himself very desperately wanting a kiss from him. A real kiss this time.

Julian’s smile widens a fraction and his teeth seem too sharp. “That’s right.” He pulls the key from his pocket and unlocks the other cuff. He lifts off from Danny and the bed. “Go shower and then I’ll give you new clothes to wear.”

Danny nods and heads to the bathroom. The mirror is still fogged up and the water doesn’t take long to heat up from Julian’s shower. He showers quickly, trying not to think about Julian on top of him and how it made him half hard.

Once out of the shower, he uses the other towel on the rack and wipes his hand across the mirror. His reflection stares back, but he doesn’t recognize it. He tilts his head and watches as the other him does too. His eyes don’t look dull anymore and he has stubble growing in. He wonders if Julian would let him shave.

He exits the bathroom and Julian is sitting on the bed. Julian doesn’t look up from his phone, just gestures carelessly to the clothes laid out next to him. Danny swallows hard, chest tight with the thought that Julian might still be disappointed in him.

He dresses quickly, sparing a glance at Julian who’s still looking at his phone. He bites the inside of his cheek, unknowing if he should say something.

He ends up not needing to do anything because Julian sighs and puts his phone away. He stands and looks at Danny, face blank of emotion.

“You ready to go, then?” Julian asks, shrugging the duffel bag onto his shoulder.

Danny nods, his chest tightening further. He grabs his own duffel bag and follows Julian out of the room. Tommy isn’t anywhere in sight, surprising Danny as he seemed to eager to leave before.

Julian drops his duffel bag onto the floor, looking pointedly at Danny to do the same. When he does, he’s pushed up against the wall, a hand on his throat and a pair of lips on his.

His eyes widen before fluttering shut. He eagerly opens his mouth and whines softly when Julian’s tongue brushes against his own. Julian easily takes over, using the hand on Danny’s throat to tilt his head up where he wants it and leaving the brunette breathless and flushed.

Julian breaks the kiss and there’s a small smirk resting on his lips. “You’re so pretty, you know that?”

Danny tries to catch his breath, eyes half lidded, finding that his own arms have come up around Julian’s neck. God, he’s already half hard and he tries to pull Julian back, to keep kissing - never fucking stop kissing - him.

Julian tuts. “You’ll take what I give you.”

He nods and Julian’s hands take Danny’s off from around his neck.

“Good boy.”

Danny feels his flush travel down to his chest at the praise.

Julian keeps the other’s hands trapped in his own between their bodies and presses soft kisses to Danny’s lips.

The contrast from the aggressive make out session to the almost gentle kisses he’s receiving now makes his head reel.

“Are you guys gonna fuck in the hallway?”

Danny looks over Julian’s shoulder and sees Tommy standing there, bag slung over his arm and looking very unimpressed at their position.

Julian rolls his eyes. “Why, you wanna watch?”

“Gross. What did I tell you about information like that?”

Julian just shrugs a shoulder, smirking. “Coulda fooled me.”

Tommy doesn’t look back at them as he starts to walk to the car. “Shut up or I’ll make you leave your boy behind.”

Danny turns his eyes back to Julian fearfully.

“Don’t worry, I’m not leaving you here.” Julian reassures. He grabs both their bags this time, letting Danny walk beside him. “I’m the one who cares about you.” He adds, almost offhandedly.

Danny furrows his brows, before nodding and agreeing. He finds that he believes Julian. There isn’t anyone out there anymore for him except for Julian.

It doesn’t occur to him that he doesn’t even know the guy’s last name.  
\-----  
They stop in some town in Arizona, Glendale Danny thinks, and he’s grateful to stretch his legs when they check in. The sky is turning pink and orange, coating the world in a hazy glow. Tommy mentions something about checking the town and tells them to book two rooms before he backs out of the parking lot.

“Where’s he going?” Danny asks once they’re in their room.

“Probably to try and see if he can see his husband,” Julian answers easily. “They play here tomorrow, I think, but they’ve definitely landed here already. It’s why we’re in Arizona and not Utah.”

Danny frowns and strips off his hoodie. “How is he gonna manage that?”

Julian shrugs. “Dunno. Probably won’t be able to. Drew’ll probably refuse to see him. Sometimes they talk, Drew seems to only talk to Tommy when he sees him in person. Maybe he doesn’t want to see Tom’s hurt look in person.”

Danny doesn’t say anything to that; changes the subject. “Why did we have to leave so quickly?”

“We...have to help out some friends in Charming, California.” Julian answers after a minute.

“Who?”

“A motorcycle gang. Well, ‘club’, technically. They sell guns. They helped us out of a jam once, saved our lives, and they’re cashing in their favor.” Julian explains. He falls down onto the bed, letting out a loud sigh. “God I’m exhausted,” He looks at Danny. “C’mere.”

Danny sits on the bed next to him and gets pulled down so he’s laying down instead.

“You confuse me.” Danny admits after a few minutes of silence had gone by.

Julian makes a questioning noise.

His heart feels like it’s in his throat as he answers. “You...you pushed me up against the door and then kissed me gently after. You make me think you’re going to leave me behind. You wouldn’t, would you?” The last question comes out small and quivering.

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Julian asks. “Of course I’m not gonna leave you.”

Danny’s heart calms down a little, sliding back into his chest. “Thank you.”

Julian looks over at him. “Don’t thank me, ‘m just telling the truth.” He rolls over so he’s on top of Danny. “Can I kiss you?”

Danny’s surprised at the request. He nods, a little too quickly, and Julian wastes no time in dipping his head down and kissing him roughly. He tries to keep up, but submits to Julian in the end. He winds his hands into blonde hair, groaning.

Julian has one hand supporting himself and another trailing under Danny’s shirt, lifting it with his wandering hand. Danny almost lets him take it off, moans at the thought, but he turns his head to break the kiss.

“I - I can’t. Not...too soon.” Danny tries to say, gasping.

Julian doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t look mad either. He sighs and rolls them over so Danny is on top of him this time.

“It’s alright,” He says. “You’re not rushed.”

Danny smiles softly, nuzzling into his chest. “Thank you.” He whispers. “Can you tell me about the people we’re helping?”

He feels Julian nods and relaxes further when fingers run through his hair. “There’s Clay and Jax who’re the President and VP. They’re cool, probably won’t bug you too much. Tig is...interesting. He’ll probably say something to you that’ll make you uncomfortable. There’s Chibs, he’s Scottish, and last I knew, he was fucking the newest member, Juice,”

“Do they all have weird names?” Danny asks, already having a hard time remembering names.

Julian huffs a small laugh. “Kind of. Bobby is the nicest and the one with the most normal name. Opie is real nice too, Jax's best friend. His dad, Piney, is in the gang too and kinda standoffish. And Clay has a wife, Gemma, she’s fucking scary. Don’t talk to her, okay?”

“Okay.” Danny answers quietly, shocked at the hard tone Julian’s voice had taken.

“Good, good.” Julian’s voice softens. “You wanna get some food?”

“Yeah.” Danny nods. He pushes off of Julian and stands, pulling the blonde up with him.

Danny tries to go over the names Julian had just rattled off, but finds that he can only remember a few. He figures he won’t have to talk much, can probably get by with letting Julian speak for both of them.

He stops thinking about it as they start to walk around, looking for a place to eat.  
\-----  
**From: TomTom  
****We’re staying an extra night.**

 **To: TomTom  
** **Whatever u say boss.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment or drop by on my [tumblr](http://www.exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A first time and introductions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late Thanksgiving, hope you ate lots of food. Sorry this chapter is a little late, I traveled to Wisconsin from NY to visit family.
> 
> There be sex in this chapter, so hooray. Tags have been updated, so heed them please. And there are introductions to some Sons of Anarchy characters. Background knowledge isn't necessary, but they're a motorcycle club who sells guns and destroys your soul.

They don’t leave the next morning like Danny expects, instead Julian tells him that they’re staying for another night. He wonders if it has anything to do with Tommy reconciling his somewhat of a marriage with Drew. He doesn’t ask Julian and Julian doesn’t say anything.

They spend the day walking around Glendale, Julian wearing a beanie and Danny wearing a baseball cap to cover his face. No one stops to talk to them and only a couple people look at them weirdly, but Danny’s pretty sure that that was because they were two guys holding hands. He had to talk Julian out of shooting them.

The sky is pink and orange when they return to the motel to find Tommy sitting in the car in the parking lot. The older man looks nervous, hands gripping the steering wheel and staring straight ahead. He doesn’t even seem to notice them when they walk by.

“Should we say something?” Danny asks, eyes narrowing in concern when Tommy barely even blinks.

“Yeah.” Julian walks up and knocks on the driver’s window, making Tommy jump and then glare at them.

The window rolls down. “What.”

“Whatcha doin’ out here, friend?” Julian drawls, smirking.

Tommy rolls his eyes. “None of your business.”

“Is it Drew? Are you going to go see him? Celebrate the Pats’ win?” He waggles his eyebrows.

“Fuck off, maybe I am.”

Danny tries to stifle a laugh, coughing when Tommy turns the glare on him. “Sorry.” He murmurs.

Julian ignores him. “Seriously, what’s up? I haven’t seen you this nervous since I caught you and Drew that one time.”

Tommy’s hands fiddle on the steering wheel. “What if this time he really means that it’s over?”

Julian rolls his eyes. “You’ve had this worry for months, he never means it. Now go, get out of here.” He raps his knuckles against the hood of the car before backing up to stand next to Danny again.

Danny watches the exchange with interest, Tommy’s worries making him the most relatable since they’ve met. He gives the older man a reassuring smile as he drives out of the motel parking lot.

Julian tugs his hand. “C’mon, let’s go inside. I doubt Tom’s gonna be coming back tonight.” He says suggestively.

Danny can feel the beginnings of a blush creeping up his neck as he laughs quietly and allows the blonde to tug him into the motel room. As he watches Julian move around the room, humming to himself, he’s filled with the desire to kiss him. He’s gotten used to this desire, gave up questioning the burning in his chest that he gets when Julian gives him the slightest glance.

It may be unhealthy, but he’s never been happier. He wonders what his therapist would say. Probably nothing he wants to hear.

He wonders if Julian would let him kiss him. They haven’t, not since outside of the last motel when the blonde pushed him up against the door.

“Hey, Ju -” He starts, shocked when he focuses from his thoughts to find Julian in front of him. 

Julian raises an eyebrow, amused. “Yes?”

Danny starts to lose his nerve. “I, um,” He stutters. “Can I…”

Julian just seems more amused at his stuttering and raises a hand to cup his cheek. “You’re so cute. Can you…?”

In a sudden rush of courage, Danny leans forward and connects their lips together. Julian is frozen for a minute and Danny worries that he’s fucked up again, but then Julian’s other hand comes up and he’s pressing closer and the lips are pressing harder.

It drags a moan up from Danny’s throat and he’s vaguely aware that Julian has knocked his baseball cap off.

They break the kiss when the need for oxygen arises. Julian’s pupils are blown out and he smiles at Danny. “Was that the question?”

Danny nods, breaths coming out in soft pants. “More or less.”

Julian chuckles and kisses him again, harder and deeper, hands leaving his face and moving down to his shirt, trailing fingertips underneath the hemline.

“You should fuck me against the wall.” Danny suggests when they break apart again. He doesn’t know what possesses him to say it and if he wasn’t already blushing, he’s sure his cheeks would be bright.

“Not for your first time.” Julian argues, pulling away slightly.

Danny wants to protest, wants to tell Julian to fuck him on the nearest surface, but the words die on his lips when Julian strips his own shirt off and pulls him towards the bed by his belt loops. He goes and lets Julian take his shirt off, tossing it somewhere onto the floor.

“C’mon, pants off, on the bed.”

Danny blushes a little at the bluntness, but takes of his pants nonetheless and watches with wide eyes as Julian does the same.

He’s...nervous. He doesn’t know what to expect. Knows what toys feel like and what he’s seen on the internet, but that’s acting and that’s not reality. Reality is a hot blonde, naked, slightly bent over his duffel bag. Julian stands, holding a bottle of lube in his hand, looking at Danny with half lidded eyes. It sounds a little like porn now that he thinks about it.

“How did you know this is my first time?” Danny asks as he slips off the rest of his clothes.

“Please. When I asked, you denied it so quickly, it wasn’t hard to tell.” Julian says, smirking. “It’s alright,” He continues, probably seeing the uncertainty on his face. “It’s not like porn,”

“Well I know that.” Danny rolls his eyes and climbs onto the bed next to Julian. “It’s just, you know…”

“It’s your first time and you’re nervous.” Julian finishes.

Danny nods. “I had toys, I’ve just never - it’s stupid, I know -”

“Hey,” Julian interrupts him softly. “It’s not stupid. Don’t worry, I’ll take it slow and I’ll stop if you want me too.”

Some of Danny’s nerves leave a little, not all, but some. “Will you,” He starts, pauses, licks his lips and tries again. “Can you tell me what to do?”

Julian’s eyebrows raise a fraction before he’s on top of Danny, capturing his lips in a kiss that’s all teeth and tongue. Dirty in a way that still feels loving.

“You’re something, huh,” Julian comments. “Yeah, I can tell you what to do.” He reaches a hand between them to stroke at Danny’s half hard cock. “That turn you on?”

Danny whimpers. “I don’t kno - _ow_. _Fuck_ , maybe?”

Julian hums. “God, you’re perfect.”

He warms from the words, cock filling more at the praise. He wants _more_ , wants Julian to cover him everywhere, wants Julian to _fill_ him. Is this what it’s supposed to feel like? Wanting to be as close to another person as possible?

He raises his hands to card through Julian’s hair and pull him down, down to get another kiss. His lips already feel bruised and he bets that Julian’s are the same.

When Julian trails wet fingers lower to circle against his hole, he shudders hard. Nerves colliding with desire making a storm of emotion swell in his chest.

Julian pulls back a little to look at Danny. “‘M gonna make you feel good, yeah? You trust me?”

Danny nods without hesitation, looking up at Julian with wide, innocent eyes, trusting the blonde when he’s at his most vulnerable.

“Then relax.”

He tries, but can’t get rid of all the nervousness that’s still fluttering around inside his chest. Julian kisses him for what seems like minutes, causing the brunette to finally relax enough for Julian to slip his middle finger into him.

It doesn’t hurt like Danny expected. He’s not sure _what_ it feels like, but it’s _good_. He gasps, back arching and hands coming up to grip Julian’s biceps hard. “ _Ngh_ , J - Jules,”

“Shh, shh,” Julian hushes him between kisses.

“I - I…” He gasps again when Julian starts moving his finger, crooking it and hitting something that makes him see stars behind his eyelids.

Julian smirks. “Feel good?”

Danny nods, biting his bottom lip hard. “ _More_.”

“You sure?” Julian teases.

“Ye - yes. _Please_.” He begs.

Julian complies, adding a second finger slowly. Danny groans, this time more from pain than pleasure. He tries to lift his head, but ends up just tipping it back.

Julian lowers his own head and presses kisses against Danny’s neck, tongue soothing over sharp bites. The pain dissipates and turns into pleasure again.

“You’re so tight,” Julian rasps. “I don’t know how my cock’s gonna even fit in you.” His voice is slightly condescending, but it makes Danny’s cock harder.

His fingers are rubbing against Danny’s walls, scissoring ever so slightly. Every brush of callused fingers against his prostate makes Danny want to scream, so he settles for turning his head and biting the pillow hard.

There’s a hand in his hair that turns his head back so he’s facing Julian. “No, no, let me hear you.”

Danny whines, jaw clenched, desperate for something,  _anything_ , but he settles for trying to push his hips back against the fingers.

“Think you can take one more?” Julian asks.

“Want your cock.” Is how he responds. He vaguely knows that he’s not ready, but the pleasure is clouding his mind.

Julian kisses him. “You need to take one more finger for me, babe. You can do that for me, right?”

Danny nods because he can, he _can_. He chokes on his shout when Julian pushes in a third finger. Pain and pleasure have mixed at this point, Julian’s hot kisses and the stretch of the fingers melding into each other.

“That’s it,” Julian coos. “Gonna feel so good around my cock. God, you’re so wet from just being fingered opened. Bein’ so good for me.”

Danny whimpers, he’s so hard that it hurts and he wants to be as close to Julian as he can. There’s sweat dotting his forehead and his fingers are tangled in Julian’s hair, eyes closed and gasping as if he was already getting fucked.

Julian grips his cock, swiping a thumb over the weeping tip. It’s like electricity running through him and he tenses before coming without warning.

“You’re so responsive,” Julian coos, fingers never stopping their rhythm, making Danny _sob_. “You ready for me to fuck you?”

“ _God yes_.” He gasps.

“Gonna beg real prettily?” Julian asks, crooking his fingers and reveling in the high, pathetic whimper he receives. When Danny nods vigorously, he continues. “Go on then.”

It’s nothing short of a command and Danny cries out, cock filling again, oversensitive. “Please. W - want your cock. _Pl - ease_.” His words stutter apart just like he is.

Julian hums, thinking about it, and starts fucking his fingers in harder and faster, making Danny cry out. “I think you can do a little better than that.”

A sob gets caught in Danny’s chest. He white knuckles the bed sheets under him and he looks up at Julian with teary eyes. “Please, please, wanted it for so long. Bet your cock would feel so good. _God_ , I need it.” 

Julian hums again and slips his fingers out, giving Danny a chance to try to catch his breath. Danny lets his head fall back onto the bed, gasping and watching Julian with hooded eyes as he coats his cock in lube.

“I know I stretched you, but this still might hurt. Remember to relax.” Julian reminds him.

He nods, spreading his legs for Julian to settle between. Julian rests the head against his loosened hole. He shivers in anticipation, mouth dropping open in a long moan when Julian pushes in slowly and steadily until their hips are flush together.

Julian’s head tips forward, blonde hair hanging in his face. “You’re so tight,” He groans. “Such a good boy for me.”

The praise makes Danny whine, hips bucking and cock fully hard again.

“You like it when I say that?” Julian asks, pulling back and thrusting, starting a slow pace that has Danny trembling.

“Uh huh,” He whimpers out. “Y - your good boy.”

“Yeah, _mine_.” Julian agrees, bending down to kiss Danny’s slack mouth. He doesn’t register the kiss, but tries to chase after it once Julian pulls back.

Julian quickens his pace, one hand gripping onto Danny’s hip, the other going to curl around his throat. Danny’s eyes widen and his cock twitches against his stomach. Something that the other doesn’t fail to notice.

“Like that too? Pretty slutty, Danny.” Julian says, thrusts not letting up.

Danny brings his own hands to grab Julian’s wrist, pressing the hand harder against his throat. It’s hard to bring in air now and he’s close to coming, can feel the coiling knot in his stomach tightening.

“You gonna come for me again?” Julian asks, voice strained.

He tries to nod, struggling to gasp when Julian’s other hand wraps around his cock, stroking it hard and fast, making Danny’s toes curl. Julian presses harder on his throat, choking him. His hands start to loosen from Julian’s wrist, eyes fluttering from lack of air.

Right as he’s on the edge, Julian lifts his hand and he gulps down air and comes harder than he ever has in his life. Julian works him through it and he thinks he screams, can only hear his blood rushing in his ears, sees Julian’s smirking face looking down at his and then -

 

He blinks his eyes open, heartbeat racing and Julian over him, gently patting his cheek.

“There you are,” Julian says, smiling softly. “Thought I lost you for a minute.”

Danny laughs weakly, throat raspy. “Did I pass out?”

“Yeah, only for a couple of minutes.” Julian answers, gently brushing hair off Danny’s sweaty forehead. “Your first time was good then?”

He rolls his eyes. “Obviously.”

Julian chuckles and lays down next to him, pulling him close against his chest.

“Did you mean it?” He asks quietly, shivering. “When you said I was yours?”

Julian pulls him closer. “Yes.”

He hums quietly, happy, and closes his eyes, exhaustion pulling him into sleep.  
\-----  
Tommy isn’t there in the morning when they wake up and Julian grumbles something about him being an asshole before dragging Danny to the shower. They don’t do anything, but they do admire the bruises that are left on Danny; purple fingerprints on his hips and neck.

Tommy still isn’t back when they’re dressed and ready to leave, so Julian calls him.

“You coming back with the car any time soon?” Julian demands before Tommy can even say hello. “Well hey there, Drew. Is Tom there by any chance?” He asks in a voice thinly disguised with a sweet tone.

Danny can only hear one side of the conversation, looking at his hand that’s interlaced with Julian’s.

The latter sighs, frustrated. “Just tell him to get his ass over here. We need to leave. Congrats on the sex by the way.” He smirks and hangs up.

“Is Tom coming back soon?” Danny asks.

“He better fucking be.” Julian growls, causing Danny to wince. “Sorry, babe,” He apologizes softly, kissing him on the temple. “Let’s go wait outside. The sooner we hit the road, the better.”

Danny nods. He doesn’t really want to leave the motel room, wants to stay in this little haven forever, but he follows the other outside where Tom pulls up twenty minutes later. His hair is messier than usual and his shirt is on backwards.

“‘Bout time, asshole.” Julian complains once they’ve climbed into the back seat. “Looks like you had fun.” He comments, smirking.

Tommy glares at him through the rearview mirror, gaze flicking over to Danny’s. “Looks like I’m not the only one.”

Julian laughs while Danny blushes hotly. “Drive, dick.”

Tommy does and soon they’re out onto the highway, the only scenery flat deserts.

“So how’s Drew?” Julian asks, breaking the silence.

Tommy shrugs. “Good, happy, still loves me for some reason.”

Danny looks over at Julian and wonders if he could ever love someone like himself. Knows that he could easily love someone like Julian, is probably a little bit there already. He doesn’t say anything, just listens to the conversation and leans against Julian’s side.

“Told you he does.”

Tommy rolls his eyes and the conversation stops there, everyone settling in for the long ride.  
\----  
There’s only four guys to greet them when they cross into Charming. One with long blonde hair and an oversized hoodie, half of a cigarette hanging between his lips. A guy standing next to him, taller, with wild hair and looking eager to kill something.

The last two guys are standing together. He looks at the shortest one first, tan, and takes in the faux hawk and the tattoos that lay on either side and wonders how much those hurt. His gaze trails up to the taller one standing almost possessively over the other. His hair rests just a bit shorter than the blonde’s, brown streaked with silver, and sunglasses are perched on top of his head. He eyes the scars that lead up his cheeks from his lips like a crude Chelsea Smile and wonders how much _those_ hurt.

“Didn’t you say there’s like, seven of these guys or something?” Danny asks.

“The others are probably at the club house.” Julian answers. “Don’t be scared,” He says, smiling. “None of them are gonna hurt you.”

Danny tries to give him a smile of his own, but he’s pretty sure it comes out as more of a grimace instead. “Alright.”

“Seriously, I won’t let them hurt you, even if they want too.”

That makes Danny smile more genuinely and he misses the look that Tommy gives Julian in the rearview mirror. “Thanks.” He murmurs quietly, smiling wider when Julian presses a gentle kiss to his temple.

Tommy gets out of the car first, greeting the four members with a smile that Danny’s never seen on his face before. 

He follows Julian out, staying mostly behind the blonde as they face the members. Danny can’t put a name to any of the guys, can barely remember the names that Julian gave him to begin with.

“Tommy boy, it’s good to see you again.” The one with the scars says in a scottish accent. Danny puts the name Chibs to him.

Tommy gives him a hug. “Not bad to see you again either.” He claps a hand onto the shoulder of Juice. “And Juice, no longer a prospect, I see.”

Juice laughs. “Barely.”

“Ah, he’s great,” Chibs praises. “Don’t listen to ‘im.” He turns to Julian and Danny. “Good to see you too, lad.”

Julian mock salutes him. “Same here.” He gets enveloped in a hug from Juice. “Hey, Juice, happy to see you too, don’t worry.” He turns to introduce Danny. “This is Danny, someone we picked up a week or two ago.”

“Someone you ‘picked up’, eh?” Chibs asks, amused, looking over his sunglasses at him. “Welcome to Charming, laddie.”

Juice nods in agreement. “You’re the one with the lockpicks, right?” He has an accent too, not one from Scotland, but Queens.

“Yeah. I’m not that great.” Danny says.

Julian rolls his eyes. “He’s getting better. Someone you,” He points at Juice. “Can teach all your techy stuff too.”

“Awesome.” Juice says, smiling.

They turn around to greet the others, Julian gesturing and whispering “Tig” to him helpfully.

“Julian, still not dead,” Tig greets, voice deadpan, only his smile giving away that he’s joking. “And who’s this?” He asks, leering at Danny.

Julian wraps an arm protectively over Danny’s shoulders. “This little cutie is someone we picked up. And off limits.”

Tig raises his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I can see you’re serious. Doesn’t mean we couldn’t _all_ have a little fun." His eyes trail down to the bruises on Danny's neck. "He looks like he could take it.”

Danny can feel his ears turning red and he’s grateful that Julian, even though a little tense, is between them.

“Tig, c’mon, man. Back off.” The blonde one says, pushing Tig back with one hand. “Sorry.”

“It’s, uh, it’s fine,” Danny says, waving the apology off. “Still getting used to this.”

The blonde smiles. “I’m Jax. Don’t worry about Tig, he’s mostly harmless.”

“I resent that.”

Jax rolls his eyes. “It’s great to have you guys here, really.” He says, addressing both Julian and Tommy. “We’ve had a problem with another club and they ended up stealing our last couple of shipments. We were hoping you could help us get them back. Clay’s got more details at the club.”

“We’ll follow you there.” Tommy says.

Jax nods and they get on their bikes as the trio heads back to the car.

Danny wonders what he got himself into. Guns, rival gangs...he misses being back in Glendale or Colorado in motel rooms when he would just pick locks and wander around with Julian. Everything seems...more now. More serious, more intense, more to lose. Just...more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Shit's about to happen in the next couple of chapters, so hold on to your hats. Also watch SOA, there's no major spoilers for the show in this and the show will destroy you. (I know it destroyed me...amenbrola, looking at you).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian debates with himself on Danny, whether he comes to any decision is something different entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this wasn't up sooner, I was dealing with a head cold and it was hard to look at a screen for more than a half hour before I'd get a headache. I'm mostly better now, but if there's any errors, feel free to correct me.

There are more people at a club house/car garage and Danny tries to stay mostly hidden behind Julian as they all greet each other. The club’s president, Clay, barely looks at him as he greets Tommy and Julian , making him feel very, very small. More faces go by with names that Danny won’t remember and he can’t remember ever feeling more out of place before.

Julian pulls him off to the side. “Are you alright?”

He’s not alright. “What? Yeah.”

Julian rolls his eyes, not believing him. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He promises. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bag with pink pills in them. “Do you want one of these?”

Danny eyes at the bag warily, recognizing the pills, but unsure if he wants to take them again. He’s more than a little certain that those pills aren’t just Benadryl.

Julian shakes the bag gently. “It’d probably do you good. Gonna be a lot of people talking about a lot of not good things.”

He looks away from the bag to meet blue eyes, his own shining with anxiety, unsure. “If, if you think I should.”

He gets a wide smile that makes his own lips quirk up a little bit and fingers placing a pill onto his tongue. He swallows it dry, grimacing a bit.

“Thank you.” He says, grateful for the pill and Julian looking out for him like this. Julian hums quietly and kisses his temple. It’s something intimate that takes him by surprise. “What was that for?” He asks.

Julian shrugs a shoulder. “Just felt like it.” He turns back around to join the others.

“Because you care about me?” Danny asks, wanting the confirmation that _someone_ wants him and he’s not totally alone and out of place here.

“Yes.” Is the short answer.

His chest warms at that and his lips quirk up in a small smile. He lets Julian lead him by the hand and tries not to look anyone in the eye as they go to a backroom where everyone is sat around a long table with the gang’s logo carved into it. Jax and Clay talk about the problem and he tries to follow what they’re talking about, something about a rival gang stealing shipments from them and hoping that Tommy and Julian can help them steal it back.

“You guys can’t just run in there, guns out, and take them back?” Julian asks, pulling a heavy lidded Danny sideways into his lap, the latter letting his head fall onto his shoulder.

“Not if we want to get all the guns back,” Jax answers, not even blinking at the display they make. “That’s why we called you guys. You know how to steal stuff better than we do.”

Julian snorts and tightens the arms he has wrapped around Danny, saying nothing, but agreeing in silence.

Tommy side eyes him before speaking. “We have to get a location first. Do you guys know where the guns are being held?”

Clay nods towards Juice’s direction. “Kid’s working on it.”

Danny’s eyes are closed and the voices sound too loud, but somehow still muted, like he’s listening to them through a layer of cotton. Julian’s hand is resting in his hair now, gently scratching and petting. The small part of his brain that’s still operating wonders what the others think, or if they even care.

“How are they even stealing the shipments?” He thinks Tommy asks.

“Exactly. We don’t know.” Clay answers, irritation clear in his voice.

Danny feels more than hears Julian groan. “Then what are we even doing here? Like, no offense, it’s great seeing you all again, but how are we supposed to help when it doesn’t seem like you know anything?”

“We were hoping you could do some recon for us,” Jax says. “They don’t know your faces, so they won’t know who you are.”

Danny can hear both of them sigh, before he drifts off, head buried in cotton and a hand in his hair.  
\-----  
Julian can tell when Danny falls asleep, his breath evens out and he falls heavier in his arms. He’s grateful that the brunette is asleep, he really doesn’t want the innocence in Danny’s eyes to be extinguished. At least by anything that’s not Julian himself.

Julian can also tell that Tom is looking - judging him for giving Danny that medication. Or maybe he’s judging Danny for accepting it. Either way, he pays it little mind, more concentrated on the recon they’re supposed to do in a couple days for the Sons.

He doesn’t really like doing recon or casing out a place to be robbed, that’s more Tom’s area of expertise, but he can tell by the way Clay and Jax are looking at them that both Tom _and_ him are expected to participate. He supposes he can leave Danny with Juice and Chibs, keep him away from Clay’s wife, Gemma. He almost makes a face thinking about her and how she wouldn’t hesitate to sink claws into Danny and twist him around until he became nothing but a paranoid shell of himself. Julian doesn’t doubt she would do it, he’s seen it before.

The meeting wraps up with a plan for Tom and him to watch the Mayans and the next shipment in a few days. They agree and everybody stands and leaves, a few members clapping him on the shoulder on their way out.

He tries to figure out the best way to get up with Danny in his arms. He ends up standing and holding Danny bridal style, keeping his hold by sheer luck alone.

“You have to stop drugging him.” Tom hisses at him when they’re out of the room and into the main room of the clubhouse. The rest of the guys have beers in their hands and smiles on their faces, probably relieved that they have a possible solution to their gun disappearance.

Julian shrugs at Tom. “He could’ve said no.” He points out.

Tom eyes the bruises around Danny’s neck. “What even happened last night?”

“Well when you went off to have your night with your husb...Drew,” He amends when Tom glares at him. “I got Danny in bed, he’s kinkier than I expected for a virgin.”

Tom’s eyes widen. “He’s a virgin?”

“ _Was_ a virgin.” Julian corrects, smiling like a wolf.

“So you fucked him, apparently for the first time, can we get rid of him?” Tom asks.

He frowns. “What? No. You think after one lay, I’m just gonna be satisfied?”

“What do you want to do then? The longer he sticks around, the more attached he’s gonna become to you. And, fuck, Jules, he might get better at lockpicking and then he’s gonna have more of a reason to stay.”

He would wave Tom off if he had a free hand. “You worry too much. What do you care if he gets attached?”

Tom’s looking at him like he’s missing something. “Despite what you think,” Tom says slowly. “I don’t actually like killing people, especially when those people have made an attachment to my best friend.”

“I’m your best friend?” Julian asks, chuckling.

Tom rolls his eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, you’re the only one I keep around.”

He sucks in a breath, pretending to be offended. “Ouch, you wound me.” He moves to sit in a chair, resting Danny on his lap.

Tom moves with him. “Why are you really keeping him around?” He asks, all serious eyes and concerned looks.

Julian frowns back at him. “He’s cute.” He explains simply.

“He's cute?” Tom repeats.

He nods. “Yeah.” He sighs. “Look, what’s your real problem with this?”

Tom sighs too. “I think that you see something in him that reminds you of you and, despite you talking all this crap about him just being something cute to fuck, I think you like him.”

He scoffs quietly and looks down at Danny’s passed out face. “Bullshit.”

Tom rolls his eyes again. “Tell yourself that if you makes you feel better about yourself.”

This isn’t the place to be talking about this, so Julian groans, dropping his head forward a little, blonde hair falling slightly. He knows that Tom isn’t going to let this go, so he asks, “Can we do this later?”

“Whatever you want, I just don't want to see one of you get hurt.”

Jax chooses that moment to come up to them, rescuing Julian from having to respond.

“Thanks for coming again, guys, we really appreciate it. You guys can stay up in the cabin,” Jax turns to look at Tom. “You remember where that is, right?”

Tom nods and side eyes Julian. “Yeah, you mind if we head there now? Long day of travelling and we’re still getting used to the time difference.”

“Nah, go on ahead, you’re not gonna be missing much here.”

Tom nods his thanks and pushes off his chair, looking at Julian to do the same. Julian wonders if he dropped Danny if he would stay unconscious. He debates testing it out, it’s not like it’s a very long way to the ground.

He decides against it and hauls Danny up as he gets out of the seat. “Where’s Tara?” He asks, voice slightly strained from holding up the other.

“At work. She should be around tomorrow.” Jax answers.

“You put a ring on her yet?”

Jax laughs. “Not yet.”

Julian chuckles too and they say their goodbyes to everyone. He stops by Juice and Chibs, both looking at Danny before looking at him.

“When me and Tommy go out on Friday, can you guys watch him?” He asks, nodding down to Danny.

Chibs nods. “Aye, he’ll be safe with me and Juicey boy.”

“Good, good. I just…” He struggles for words. “He doesn’t know a lot about what me and Tommy do, only been with us for a couple of weeks and most of that was just lying low. Then we come here and now he’s surrounded by guns and violence and Tig and Happy -”

“Slow down there, lad. We’ll make sure nothing happens to him.” Chibs assures him. Juice nods, agreeing.

Julian lets out a small sigh. “Thanks. Keep him away from Gemma.”

Chibs dips his chin in a nod, face serious. “He’ll be fine.”

“Good, good.” Julian smiles at them, thanking them, and leaving after Tom, Danny heavy in his arms.

The car ride to the cabin is silent and Julian has repositioned Danny so he’s straddling him, head buried in his neck.

He’s thinking about what Tom said to him. It’s obvious that Tom is wrong, he’s barely known Danny two weeks and he’s not some innocent, blushing virgin. That’s Danny, not him.

Then why does it feel like Tom has a point?

He thinks that maybe he has gotten too attached to the brunette, but not too attached where he’d hesitate to get rid of him. Probably. Maybe.

“Fuck.” He mumbles out.

Tom glances at him. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just thinking.”

“About?”

Julian rolls his eyes, Tom was worse than a parent sometimes. “About how Gemma is going to tear Danny apart if she gets the chance to.” It’s not totally a lie.

“She won’t. Keep him at the cabin or stay with him.” Tom answers like it’s simple.

“Yeah, I guess.” Julian says lamely. He smothers a kiss into Danny’s hair almost unconsciously and hopes that Tom doesn’t notice. If he does, he doesn’t say anything.

The cabin is dark when they arrive, spare key hidden underneath the mat. Tom carries in all their bags, silently complaining all the while.

“I swear to god if you two fuck loudly while I’m here I will shoot him myself.” Tom warns, dropping the duffel bags and giving Julian a pointed look.

Julian smiles innocently. “I would never.”

Tom rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure.” He looks at Danny. “Is he gonna be out for the rest of the night?”

“Probably. If not, I’ll wear him out again.” He says, winking.

“I just fucking said…” Tom trails off, sighing. “See you in the morning.”

Julian laughs, setting Danny down onto the bed. “Night.”

The door clicks shut and Julian struggles to get Danny out of his jeans and under the covers. He’s a little worn out himself by this point and the last thing he needs is Danny waking up, so of course Danny wakes up as he’s heading to the bathroom.

“Julian?” Danny slurs, half awake.

He suppresses a sigh and walks back over to the bed. Danny hasn’t moved, the drug lingering and making him sluggish. He smiles when he sees Julian and Julian can’t help but smile back.

“Where are we?” Danny asks, blinking owl like up at him.

“In a cabin we’re staying in. Go back to sleep, yeah?”

Danny nods and lets his eyes drift close again. Julian stays around for another minute before deeming it safe enough to get up and use the bathroom connected to the room without waking him.

He’s exhausted when he gets back to the bed, collapsing next to Danny. He looks over at the brunette, studying his sleeping face. He can admit to himself that Danny is attractive and his personality isn’t bad either. Maybe if they met another way in another world, it could’ve worked out differently.

Julian knows in reality he can’t bring Danny into the world he lives in. Danny’s too sweet and while he’d love to see that sweetness covered in blood and that innocence corrupted, he knows something would be destroyed and Danny wouldn’t be Danny anymore.

Maybe he just needs to fuck someone, specifically someone brunette who’s sleeping next to him. He’d totally wake that brunette, confident that he could get the other in the mood, but decides against it, Tom’s warning ringing in his ears. Maybe in the morning.   
\-----  
The first thing Danny thinks is that he has no idea where he is when he wakes up. There’s light streaming gently through the curtains at the window and there’s a body next to him on the bed. He startles for a second before seeing that the other body is Julian and he relaxes. He still isn’t sure where they are or how they got there, but if Julian’s with him, it’s probably somewhere safe.

The second thing he thinks is that he really needs to piss. He tries to wriggle out of the bed and the arm that he’s under, but the arm tightens and pulls him further onto the bed. He looks at Julian and finds that his eyes are closed, but he’s smiling, showing that he’s awake.

“Hey.” Julian greets, voice thick with sleep.

Danny smiles. “Morning. Where are we?”

“You don’t remember?” Julian asks, sitting up.

He shakes his head. “I know we’re in California, but I’m not sure where all this -” He waves his hands to gesture to the room. “- is.”

Julian chuckles and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. “You’re not freaking out all that much.”

He furrows his brows. “Should I be?”

“Nah, you’re safe with me.”

Danny smiles and sits up too. He feels groggy, needs to piss, wants a shower, and wants to be held by Julian. He’s not sure the order he’d prefer.

He tilts his head up for a kiss that Julian gives him. “I really do need to piss though. And probably shower.”

Julian hums. “Go on then. I’m gonna go to see if Tommy is awake.”

He nods and rolls out of the bed, stumbling only slightly on his way to the bathroom. He uses the toilet and then looks into the mirror after washing his hands. His hair is sticking up worse than Julian’s, but he looks refreshed. His neck still looks like a watercolor of purples and blues and it makes him smile.

The shower doesn’t take long to heat up compared to the motel showers he’s been used to, the glass door steaming up, and he sighs in happiness when he steps under the hot water. He lets his head hang down, watching the water drop to the floor.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels cold air hit his side from the door being opened.

“Jesus, fuck, Jules,” He gasps out, when he sees the blonde step into the shower behind him. “You scared the fuck out of me.”

Julian laughs and pulls the door shut again, encasing them in hot water and steam. “Sorry, you looked lonely in here all by yourself.” He wraps his arms around Danny’s waist, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.

Danny turns his head for a proper kiss, one that Julian gives willingly. He moans into the kiss, closing his eyes. It’s almost like kissing in the rain if Danny pretends hard enough.

“God, you look so good.” Julian says, turning him and pushing him against the tile wall.

Danny feels light headed from the steam and the hot tongue pressing against his own. He moans, wrapping his arms around Julian’s neck, fingers running through the blonde’s wet hair.

Fingers run down his side, making him shiver and arch into it. He drags his mouth away from Julian’s to gasp and then sputter when water gets into his mouth.

Julian chuckles, kissing at his exposed neck. “Forgot you’re still a virgin in some senses.” He nips at a purple bruise, then runs his tongue over it when Danny flinches and whimpers. 

Julian roams a finger down the cleft of Danny’s ass, brushing over his hole and making him shudder and grip blonde hair tighter.  

“Fuck.” He whimpers, breathless, head hitting the wall. “Fuck me.”

“Not here.” Julian says. He presses a finger into Danny, watching his face contort in pleasure.

He tries to gasp out all the reasons why Julian totally _should_ fuck him here, but he cries out when Julian curls his finger, scraping over that bundle of nerves inside of him. He buries his head into Julian’s neck and bites down, wanting to leave a mark and pleasure clouding his judgement.

Julian groans and takes his finger out, slipping two back in. It doesn’t burn as much as it did the first time, but Danny still winces, teeth biting down harder in response. He wants more - more fingers, more _something_.

“ _God_ ,” He chokes out. “Fuck, touch me.”

“I am.” Julian points out, thrusting his fingers in hard.

Danny groans in frustration. “I...please.”

Julian laughs darkly, letting his other hand grip Danny’s cock, stroking lightly. “Here?”

He whimpers and nods, hands falling from Julian’s hair to his back, nails digging in and scratching. He feels like he can’t breathe, water and steam around him, too many sensations at once and no release for him anywhere.

“You’re so cute like this,” Julian coos, sounding too close and too far away all at once. “All desperate for me and wanting to come.”

He feels a jolt of humiliation and arousal at the words, cock twitching in Julian’s hand. He wants to come and he lets the other know it.

“Please,” He begs, lifting his heavy head to look at Julian through half lidded eyes. “I want to come, please, please.”

“You need it?” Julian taunts. His fingers press against Danny’s prostate hard, not moving them, just massaging it.

A cry gets torn out from Danny’s throat, tears pricking his eyes from _toomuchnotenough_. “God, _pleaseI_ ” He can’t get enough air into his lungs and there’s not even a hand around his neck, just _JulianJulianJulian_ surrounding him and suffocating him all by himself.

Julian shushes him. “Alright, you can come. You’re such a good boy.”

Danny isn’t sure if it’s the permission or the praise that’s the final thing that pushes him over the edge, but he does, crying out in a hoarse voice, body wanting to curl in on itself from the pleasure. Julian works him through it, whispering praises all the while, until Danny goes limp. He pulls his fingers out and holds him up so he doesn’t fall.

“That good?” Julian asks.

Danny nods. “Jesus.” He rests his hands on Julian’s hips, then noticing the hard cock pressed against his hip. “Should I…blow you or something?”

Julian shrugs a shoulder. “If you want. I’m not gonna make you.”

“I want to,” He confesses. “I’ve just...I’ve never…” He trails off, kneeling in front of Julian instead, both just out of the waters reach. “Can you…”

“I’ll talk you through it.” Julian assures, saving him from any further embarrassment. He cups the back of Danny’s head in his hand, guiding him forward. “It’s real easy. Watch your teeth, go as far as you feel you can.”

Danny nods, licking his lips and opening his mouth a little. He licks the head of Julian’s cock, bitterness and salt exploding onto his tongue. It’s not the worst thing he’s ever tasted, and Julian’s hiss of pleasure is more than worth it. He opens his mouth wider and takes him into his mouth, the hand on the back of his head guiding him.

He only gets down halfway before gagging and pulling back, eyes watering slightly. He frowns slightly and goes down again, determined to get further this time. He does, holding Julian in his throat for a few seconds, before pulling away to breathe.

Julian grunts. “God, your gag reflex. Can you take me down again? Try to hold it a little longer this time?”

Danny nods, adrenaline starting to course through his veins again. He presses down at far as he can, tipping his head back like he’s seen in videos and relaxing his throat. He breathes through his nose as best he can, eyes closed.

“Swallow.” Julian commands, voice strained.

He swallows and gags. He gets pulled of Julian’s cock by his hair, sputtering and breathing hard.

“Good, that was good.” Julian praises, pulling him onto his cock again.

Danny chokes hard this time, moaning and gagging around Julian’s cock. He tries to pull back, but the hand in his hair won’t let him and he’s panicking for a second before he’s choking and coughing around nothing. It happens again and again until his throat is sore and tears have spilled over onto his cheeks.

Julian pulls him off, holding him in place by his hair. He groans loudly as he comes, painting Danny’s face, come splashing onto cheek and chin. Danny brings a hand up wipe away some of it, and grins breathlessly up at him.

“Shit,” Julian breathes. “You’re a natural.” He pulls Danny up and kisses him gently.

“Thanks?” He says, clearing his throat. It’s sore and his voice sounds worse for wear.

Julian laughs. “Sorry about your voice.” He apologizes, pulling Danny back under the shower stream. He squeezes shampoo onto the brunette’s head, lathering it under his fingers.

Danny hums, relaxing into the touch. “It’s alright.” He clears his throat again, swallowing hard.

They get out of the shower when the water starts to turn cold, Julian wrapping Danny in a towel before grabbing one for himself. They get dressed, Danny stealing one of Julian’s shirts, and exit the room.

Tommy is sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal, smiling down at his phone.

“What’s got you all smiley?” Julian asks, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Nothing.” Tommy snaps, locking his phone before Julian can peek at it over his shoulder.

“Fine. Be a spoilsport.” He pouts.

The older male frowns at Julian, before his eyes catch Danny’s, giving him a small smile. It surprises him and he smiles back. He watches the almost familial like interaction with a small sense of belonging, something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“Oh, hey, shit, before I forget,” Julian says, looking at Danny. “Me and Tommy have to stake out a place for the Sons on Friday and we can’t bring you.”

Danny’s stomach drops a little. “You have to what?”

“We have to see who’s stealing the shipments and how.” Tommy explains again.

Julian nods. “It’ll only be for a couple of hours at the most and I told Juice and Chibs to keep an eye on you, make sure you stay safe. You’ll stay at the clubhouse with them, alright?”

“Keep an eye on me?” Danny asks, worried. “Is something gonna happen to me?”

“No, no, no, nothing will.” Julian says quickly, setting his coffee down and rushing over to him. “Clay’s wife, Gemma, I don’t want her talking to you, so Juice and Chibs will make sure she doesn’t corner you or anything. But if she does, don’t talk to her. Don’t listen to anything she says, alright?” His voice is serious, thick with concern and even Tommy looks a little concerned when Danny glances at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, alright.” He says if only to calm Julian down a little. “I - I won’t talk to her.”

Julian nods once. “Good.” He kisses Danny once, quickly, before smiling again. “You’ll have fun with Juice, he’s the youngest, he’ll probably show you something techy to learn.”

“Cool.” He agrees.

“Hey, what’s wrong with your voice?” Tommy asks, the tension in the room breaking when Julian laughs and Danny’s ears turn red.

“Nothing.” He says too quickly.

Tommy narrows his eyes, looking between them both, before his expression turns into something disgusted. “What the fuck, Jules! I told you not to while I was in the house!”

Julian holds his hands up in surrender, still laughing. “You weren’t here when I checked!”

“Fucking fine.” Tommy grumbles, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, eat some food.” Julian tells Danny, dragging him into the kitchen.

Danny goes, almost forgetting that the only reason they’re staying in this house is to help a motorcycle gang. He figures they’ll all have to go to the clubhouse eventually and he’s dreading it a little, but he knows that he has to make nice with at least a couple of them before Friday.

He puts that out of his mind for now, allowing himself to, instead, revel in the warm atmosphere that the three of them have managed to create.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Also that win Monday night against the Ravens, the shower scene is because of that. Thanks to amenbrola for unknowingly kicking my ass into gear.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long month has passed, but finally I've appeared and an update has arisen. Important note at the end!

It’s Friday night and Julian and Tommy are due to leave for their spying or stakeout or whatever it is they need to do and Danny considers, not for the first time, to ask again if he could go with them instead of staying at the clubhouse. It’s not that he thinks he’ll get stabbed in the clubhouse - well, he does think that entirely actually.

“You’ll be fine,” Julian assures him for the tenth time. “We’ll only be gone for a couple hours at the most.”

Danny nods, he could survive a couple of hours. “You’ll be safe, right?”

“We’re always safe,” Julian says confidently. “Don’t worry about us, me and Tommy are pretty good with a gun if it comes down to that.”

“It won’t though, right?” He asks, eyebrows drawn together and a frown on his face.

Julian shrugs. “Honestly, maybe, hopefully, still maybe.”

Danny smiles nervously at the comment, unsure if it’s a joke or not. “I can’t just stay in the cabin while you guys are out?” He asks, hopeful but doubting that Julian will agree.

“I don’t want you being alone.”

He frowns at the blonde. “I’d be fine.”

Julian narrows his eyes. “You really wouldn’t.”

He knows better than to argue with him, so he just clenches his jaw. “Just come back soon.”

“Of course.” Julian presses a gently kiss to Danny’s temple and leads him to where Juice and Chibs are sitting at the bar of the clubhouse. “Stay with them.”

Chibs claps a hand on Danny’s shoulder making him flinch slightly. “Don’t worry, we’ll look after the lad.”

Julian gives all of them a smile before Tommy comes to drag him away to the car leaving Juice feeling a little uncomfortable and a lot out of place. He doesn’t really know what to say or what to do - what does someone say in this situation?

Juice seems to pick up on the feeling and smiles at him. “I got a joint, you wanna share it on the roof?”

“Uh, sure.” Danny says, nodding. The roof seems like a private place where little people will bother him.

“Awesome.” Juice’s grin widens. He turns to Chibs. “Stay here in case the crew needs you.”

Chibs nods and rests a hand on the side of Juice’s neck, the younger smiling up at him. It’s a shockingly intimate moment and Danny averts his eyes from the pair. When they separate, Juice pulls Danny up to the roof and lights up the joint, taking a hit and then passing it to Danny.

It’s not the first time that Danny’s smoked a joint, but it doesn’t take more than a few hits before he’s starting to feel high and giggly.

“How did you really end up with Danny and Tommy?” Juice asks when the joint is halfway smoked. “I don’t really believe all that shit about you asking to tag along. They’d never let just anyone with them.”

Danny laughs. “I was a hostage - am a hostage? Julian likes me and he convinced Tommy to keep me around.”

“So can you actually pick locks?”

He nods. “Yeah, hidden a talent of mine, I guess.” He feels like his words are out of his mouth before he’s able to process them in his mind. “I really like him. My life was shit before him - I mean, I miss my dog, but I don’t feel like drowning sorrows in alcohol nightly anymore.”

“You like Julian?”Juice asks, coughing lightly.

“Yeah. I’ve never liked anyone like this before.” He takes a hard hit from the joint. “I think I love him.”

“That’s...not healthy.” Juice comments, taking a hit from the joint before passing it back to Danny.

“Nothing in my life seems to be anymore.” He’s quiet for a minute after that, letting the smoke sit in his lungs before releasing it. “Do you think Julian likes me?”

“He hasn’t killed you yet.”

He rolls his eyes. “Think he loves me?”

“Maybe,” Juice says simply. “I don’t know if a month is enough time for people to fall in love.” He holds his fingers out for the joint that Danny passes back over. “You should just ask him or something.”

“You think? What if he doesn’t listen?”

“You could always point a gun at him.”

Danny giggles. “I can’t just a hold a gun to him.”

Juice scoffs. “Why not? That’s what I do to Chibs when he doesn’t do the dishes.”

“I don’t even have a gun.” Danny can’t believe he’s actually considering this. He thinks it’s the weed.

Juice pulls out his gun from the waistband of his jeans and hands it over to Danny. “Here, you can borrow mine.”

Danny takes it gingerly, turning it over in his hands and looking at it. He sets it down in front of him.

“You’ve never shot a gun before, have you?”

He shakes his head. “No. But I’m sure it can’t be too hard.”  

Juice laughs and Danny joins in, tucking the gun into his own waistband like Juice shows him.

“It’s not hard,” Juice says once they’ve stopped laughing. “Just point the gun and pull the trigger. Keep it in the bedside table at the cabin or something.”

“Alright.” Danny says, listening intently.

The conversation turns to other things; hacking and codes, Juice promising to show him how to write and identify code some time when they’re not high or getting shot at. Danny doesn’t know how long they’re up on the roof, the joint wearing down until there’s nothing left and they’re sitting next to each other waiting to come down from the high.

They hear gravel crunching under wheels, two doors closing, and arguing voices going into the clubhouse.

Juice stands up slowly, brushing off his jeans. “We should go to down, sounds like they’re back.”

Danny nods and takes the hand that Juice offers. The high has mostly worn off by now, just a lingering tiredness remaining.

Julian and Tommy are talking to Clay when they get back down.

“They have someone wearing one of your jackets, convincing them that they can take their delivery. And then the rest of the Mayans come out and help move the stuff. They’re keeping it in a warehouse, it’s not advanced shit. Should be easy to go in and take back your guns.” Tommy explains to Clay.

“But as much as you want to go in there, guns blazing, it’s not a good idea.” Julian continues. “They have cameras and guards. You’re gonna need to plan it out.”

Clay nods, rapping his knuckles onto the table. “Good, good. We’ll start planning shit tomorrow.” He raises his voice, “That means in here tomorrow morning for a meeting!” The rest of the crew grumble an agreement before they go back to whatever they were doing.

Once they’re dismissed, Julian slinks over to Danny, wrapping arms around his waist. “You smell like you’ve in a weed garden.” He comments, hand pausing at the gun, but quickly moving away.

Danny smiles and sighs, leaning his head on Julian’s shoulder. “Juice offered, I accepted. Is it bad?”

“No, no, just surprised is all.”

“Hmm,” He hums quietly. “How was your thing?”

“DIdn’t get shot or anything.” Julian says, sighing. Danny can’t tell if he’s really upset about that or not. He bends down to kiss Danny, a quick one against the corner of the brunette’s lips.

“You want to leave?” Julian asks.

Danny wants to leave very much. “Not if you want to stay.”

“Nah, we can leave. Need to get some sleep anyway.” Julian says, tugging Danny out of the clubhouse and to the car.

“Are we just gonna leave Tommy here?” Danny asks. He gets into the car anyway.

Julian chuckles. “He’ll find a ride, I’m sure.”

They leave the lot back to the cabin, Danny beating Julian to the bedroom to stash the gun into the bedside table. He’s just managed to close the drawer when Julian catches up, dragging him down onto the bed . They’re asleep within minutes, Danny listening to Julian’s breaths evening out before his own do as well.

He can convince himself that they’re in love. Or could be anyway.  
\-----  
The weekend comes and goes with them making plans that all sound very not foolproof to Danny, but he just stays quiet and close to Julian. Juice teaches him how to hack basic computers and how to read simple code. Julian fucks him on Saturday night and then again Sunday afternoon, more quiet than usual about it.

The week feels like it goes by quickly even though Danny’s without Julian most nights. Tommy says that he’s out at the clubhouse, helping to make plans, but he’s always looking at his phone or his laptop when he answers.

It’s not that Danny doesn’t believe Tommy, he just finds it hard to believe that Julian would be out three of the five nights. He doesn’t say anything though, just spends his evenings with Tommy, getting closer to the older in the process, and goes to bed alone, waking up in Julian’s arms.

He’s at the clubhouse on Saturday, trying to get away from the noise of the clubhouse. He finds an empty room and enters it, a bedroom that looks like it’s been unoccupied for a long time.

He doesn’t realize he’s cornered until he hears the door open and he turns around to see the woman that Julian pointed out as Gemma standing between him and the door.

“Well, this is the pretty boy who everyone is talking about.”

He swallows hard, not answering and trying to figure out a way to get around her.

“You know, it’s not polite to ignore a lady.” She points out. “What’s your name, kid?”

He frowns, finding it hard to believe that Gemma doesn’t know his name if she’s been hearing about him. “Danny.” He answers anyway, voice quiet.

“Well, Danny, how’d you get those two to keep you around?” She asks, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

“They picked me up in Texas.”

She hums, expression not changing. “And what? He fell in love with you?” She laughs.

He feels the tips of his ears turn red. It’s not...it’s not love, whatever it is that him and Julian have between them. Well, it’s not on Julian’s side.

“It’s not love.” He answers finally.

“Well obviously not,” She says, taking a long drag of her cigarette. “Someone like him wouldn’t fall for someone like you, would he.”

He flinches, despite trying not to, and looks away from her gaze. When he doesn’t answer, she continues, “You love him though, don’t you?”

“No,” He denies, frowning. “It’s not love.” He says again.

“Sounds like it if you’re staying around with him.” She points out.

“I was held _hostage_ , I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Yet you’re still here.”

He doesn’t have an answer for that. Why _is_ he still here? Because one of them might kill him if he tries to leave? Because his apartment would feel too lonely now?

She’s smirking now. “Dangerous falling for someone like that.”

“I’m not.” He says firmly.

“Good.” She says, stubbing her cigarette out. “But it wouldn’t matter, because he wouldn’t fall for you. I saw him hanging with one of the whores a few nights ago.”

It hurts the second time she says Julian wouldn’t fall for someone like him just as much as the first time and he almost misses the second part. Julian wasn’t with someone a few nights ago, Tommy said he had to do something for Jax and Clay. Tommy had stayed at the cabin with him, getting a phone call from his husband, leaving Danny to wait for Julian alone in their shared room. He desperately believes that Tommy was telling the truth.

The door opening brings him back to reality. Julian is standing in the doorway, glaring at Gemma. “You should stay away from my things.” He says darkly.

“‘ _Your_ ’ thing?” She scoffs. “I saw you with blondie the other night.” Gemma comments, eyes flicking to Danny quickly, before taking her leave.

“What did I tell you?” Julian hisses, moving towards him.

He flinches back at the harsh tone and looks at the ground. “Sorry.” He says quietly.

“What did she say to you?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “Nothing really. She asked why I was here.”

“And what did you say?” Julian asks - demands.

“I said you picked me up in Texas, which you did.” He explains. He wants to ask what Gemma meant about seeing Julian with someone else, but decides against it, seeing how Julian is still glaring at him.

“What else did she say.” He poses the question as a statement. “I know her,” He adds when Danny goes to refuse it. “I know she’s said something else.”

Danny bites his lip and wraps his arms around himself. “I don’t want to talk about it here.” He doesn’t want to talk about it at all.

Julian scoffs, but lets it go, grabbing his arm roughly and pulling him to the car to bring him to the cabin. They pass by the others, Tommy not among them.

The ride to the cabin is silent, Danny not knowing how to start a conversation. He thinks about how he’s going to answer Julian when they pull up the cabin. They pass by Tommy who’s sitting in the living room, on his laptop.

“So talk.” Julian demands, crossing his arms, once they’re in their bedroom.

“I think I love you.” He blurts out. He doesn’t mean to say that, but there it is, words laid out between them.

Julian looks surprised, before narrowing his eyes. “No you don’t.”

Danny furrows his brows and opens his mouth to argue that he’s pretty sure he does, but Julian rushes him and pins him against the wall.

“ _You don’t love me_ ,” Julian growls out. “ _And I don’t love you_.” He pushes Danny away from the wall.

He stumbles before regaining his balance. “But you’ve kept me around.” He argues, heart falling into his stomach.

“Because you have a nice ass.”

“Bullshit.” Danny hisses, leaning his weight against the wall, sadness mixing with adrenaline and becoming anger.

Julian rounds on him again, grabbing his throat and pinning him against the wall again. “Listen very, very closely,” He presses hard against Danny’s throat causing him to grip at the blonde’s wrist. “You may think you love me, but you _don’t_ . We’re not Tom and Drew, I wanted to keep you, so I did. _Stop struggling_.” Hands press harder against his throat until he’s really choking.

“St- _op_.” Danny gasps, clawing at Julian’s wrist. There are spots flashing in his vision and his eyes roll to the back of his head.

Mercifully, Julian does stop and he slumps against the wall, gasping for air, tears clumping his eyelashes together and making his vision blurry. He doesn’t fall to the ground like he’s expecting, instead there are hands holding his mostly limp body against the wall. He leans his head back against it, still gulping in air. He doesn’t register the hit on his face until he’s sagging forward in Julian’s arms.

He’s dizzy and disoriented when Julian drops him, falling to the floor and looking up at the blonde with misted eyes. Julian looks at him with disgust and then moves to the door.

“Where are you going?” He croaks out, trying and failing to stand back up.

“Out. Don’t be here when I get back or I’ll kill you.”

Danny flinches when the door slams shut. He lets his head rest back against the wall, finally catching his breath. He doesn’t realize there are tears on his face until they drip from his chin. He’s crying then, ugly sobs that are ripped from his throat. He crushes a hand to his mouth by habit, not wanting anyone to hear him.

It doesn’t seem to work as the door opens and Tommy’s standing in the doorway, looking concerned and slightly angry.

“What happened? Why did Julian just storm out of here?” Tommy asks, moving forward to help him up. “Are you okay?”

Danny scoffs. “No.”

“What the fuck happened?”

He shrugs, not really wanting to talk about it again. “I told Julian a thing, he got upset about it.” He looks around. “I have to go.”

“Go where?”

“It doesn’t matter. He said he’d kill me if I get back.”

Tommy grabs his wrist, stopping him from walking out the door. “Who said that? What happened? _Stay here_. No one is going to hurt you, alright?”

Danny shakes his head and pulls out of the grip, going for the gun from the bedside table and pointing it at Tommy. “Don’t come closer.” The gun is shaking in his grip, but it causes Tommy to stand still, hands held up.

“Hey now,” Tommy begins softly, slowly approaching him like he would a frightened animal. “Why don’t you put that down, yeah?”

He grips the gun tighter, finger trembling on the trigger. “No.”

Tommy continues to come closer to him. “Give me the gun, Danny.”

He doesn’t know if he’d really be able to take the shot, but he doesn’t lower the gun. “No.” He repeats, weaker.

Tommy moves faster than he anticipates and suddenly the gun is on the floor, Tommy kicking it away, and his hands are held together in front of him by larger hands. He tries to pull at them, but he’s held tight and finally stops struggling, falling forward slightly.

“What happened?” Tommy asks again.

“Julian told me to leave. That he’d kill me if I’m still here when he comes back.”

The older male makes a noise in his throat. “That fucking dumbass. He’s not gonna kill you.”

“How do you know?” Danny asks, sniffling. “I told him I love him.” He adds in a quieter voice.

“Well it doesn’t mean he’s gonna kill you.” Tommy points out. If he’s surprised by Danny’s confession, he doesn’t show it. “Come on, you can come stay in my room.”

“Why? Shouldn’t you be more than happy to just get rid of me now?”

“You’d think. Drew says I get ‘connected to people too quickly’. He’s probably right, he is about most things.” He rolls his eyes and starts to lead Danny to his room. “But no, I’m not gonna put a bullet in your head or leave you in the middle of nowhere. You’re useful to us and you’re not half bad company.” His lips quirk up in a smile that Danny tries to match.

“Where are you gonna sleep?” Danny asks.

“I’ll crash on the couch, I’ll be fine.” Tommy calls over his shoulder as he leaves and then returns with a bag of ice.

He accepts the easy answer and the ice, pressing it gingerly against his already bruising cheek. They could be in love, somehow, somewhere. Maybe. Danny can’t believe this is his life now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to Wisconsin on Monday for an undetermined about of time to help my brother out. I'll try to grind updates out, but, just a heads up. I have a new story coming out soon though! A Tom/Drew one that's not gonna be too long, but I love them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still in Wisconsin which is why there hasn't been any updates, sorry about that. I'm back home on the 20th. Also, like, the fucking Super Bowl? I still can't actually believe it. What was your favorite part? Mine was when Goodell had to hand the trophy over to Kraft.

Danny hasn’t left the cabin in three days, barely leaves the room unless it’s to use the bathroom. Tommy brings him food and waits until he eats it before taking it away, and he’s tried to get Danny to open up a little without much success. He stopped handcuffing Danny after the first day, realizing that he really wasn’t going anywhere.

He doesn’t know what to do, where’s he supposed to go, how he’s supposed to even keep _living_. It’s stupid, really, and he knows it’s stupid, but he’s spent a little over a month with Julian and he’s gotten so used to waking up with the blonde next to him, that he feels a little hollow now that that’s gone.  

He thinks about when he said _I love you_ to Julian a lot and he wonders if this would’ve happened if he never said those words. He figures it would hurt worse because he would know that Julian’s been out with someone else. He guesses it doesn’t matter anymore and sighs, turning his face into his pillow.

The door opens and Tommy walks in, plate in hand, concerned frown plastered on his face. 

“You look like shit.” Is Tommy’s greeting.

“Thanks,” He mumbles into the pillow. He doesn’t bother sitting up and he feels the bed dip down when Tommy sits on it. “I’m not hungry.”

“Yeah, well, that’s tough shit.” Tommy says, pulling Danny to sit up.

He goes, scratching at his greasy hair. There’s a sandwich on the plate and he picks it up gingerly, looking at it with distaste.

Tommy watches him and sighs. “Just eat it.”

He does, slowly, each bite making his throat constrict with the urge to gag. He tries to avoid Tommy’s eyes watching him eat and manages to get most of the sandwich down before he really feels like he’s about to throw up.

“Good.” Tommy approves, ruffling Danny’s hair. “How you feeling?”

Danny shrugs. “Fine.” He’s still a bit surprised that the older male is looking after him like this. He wonders if Tommy ever had a brother or ever wanted kids.

“Has Julian ever told you anything about Drew?” Tommy asks suddenly, snapping Danny out of his thoughts.

He looks up at the older man. “No. Apart from that you’re married.”

Tommy huffs out a quiet laugh. “We got married when I was nineteen, he was twenty three. We met when I was a freshman in college. He came up to me after practice to welcome me to the team,”

“You played football?” Danny asks.

He nods. “Yeah, only in college. I was the third string quarterback. Drew thought I had potential.” He shrugs. “He showed me the ropes, gave me a chance. I liked him instantly; took him a couple weeks to fully warm up to me, but he did. We didn’t have time for dates, so we considered practice and games dates.”

“Wow,” Danny says, a little awed. “You guys really must have liked each other.”

“We did. I loved him within a month. We probably moved too fast too quickly, but we were each other’s first love, what were we supposed to do?”

“Apparently get married.”

Tommy chuckles. “Yeah, that.”

“Who proposed?” Danny asks.

“He did. We went to Vegas for a weekend together in the summer and he asked. I said yes, we found a place and the next morning it was official. We weren’t drunk and he had this whole life planned out for us. We were gonna join the NFL, buy a house, have a dog, maybe a kid…” He trails off, a wistful look in his eyes.

“What happened?”

“I panicked. That future felt too secure, boring. I wanted a future with Drew, I just didn’t want _his_ future. I got really depressed, stopped going to class and practice, my scholarship got pulled and I was expelled. I spent a few years in a dead end job, but we couldn’t make ends meet, so I started breaking into people’s houses. I loved it, almost as much as playing football, gave the same kind of rush.

“Drew hated it for obvious reasons. He told me that if I didn’t stop we didn’t have a future. Well, I didn’t stop and our future is...questionable. None of the public knows and our relationship has been reduced to dingy motel rooms and brief phone calls.” He sighs and looks at Danny. “What I’m trying to say is that a lot of relationships are fucked up, none more than mine and Drew’s and yours and Julian’s, but we make it work. I know that dumbass cares about you the same way I know that Drew still loves me.

“Being on the road for such a long time makes someone closed off. The only reason I’m not is because I have Drew. And Julian has you.”

Danny looks away at the mention of Julian. “He doesn’t want me. He made that glaringly obvious.”

Tommy scoffs. “I’ve known Julian for a while now and I know when he’s lying. I’m not making excuses for him or anything, but he’s scared.”

It’s quiet and then, “I know he was sleeping with other people.”

“What?”

“Shut up, I know that you know too. Gemma told me, well, she hinted at it. I don’t know how long he’s been doing it, but I know.” He looks back to Tommy. “How long has he been doing it?” He asks, even though he doesn’t really want the answer.

Tommy looks away from his this time. “I’m not sure, at least twice I know of.”

“Awesome.” Danny says, sarcastic and bitter. “So he kidnaps me, makes sure I have absolutely no life to go back to, and then decides he’s bored with me.”

“It didn’t sound like you had much of a life back in Texas anyway.” Tommy mutters. “Sorry, he’s an asshole, but he’s still my friend, defending him is almost second nature.”

Danny shrugs. He doesn’t mind, he’s right afterall. “I don’t really. I was working in a bookstore. I was pretty close to being evicted from my apartment. The only thing I had going for me was my dog.” He sighs and looks down at his hands. “Should it hurt more or less that no one really wanted to find me.”

Tommy’s frowning at him, he can tell, as he answers. “Maybe less, maybe more, you can’t really be sure.”

“I didn’t ask for philosophy.” He grumbles, rolling his eyes. He changes the subject. “How’s the whole gun thing going?”

Tommy shrugs a shoulder. “It’s...going. There’s some complications; the warehouse they’re held in is locked. They want to shoot through the padlock, but that would destroy the whole sneaking thing and ruin everything.” He side eyes Danny.

He knows what Tommy is trying to say. “Yeah, sounds tough. ‘M sure there’s a way to get through that.”

Tommy sighs. “Are you gonna make me ask?”

“Ask what?” He responds, playing dumb.

“You’re a little shit. Could you just _look_ at the lock?” Tommy asks. “Jules said you’d be able to pick it.”

“I won’t be able to tell just by a shitty picture.” Danny points out.

“They’re not shitty quality - look, if Jules can tell enough that you can pick it, then they’re good pictures. Just come with me to the clubhouse to look at them.” He suggests.

Danny scoffs. “Yeah, no thanks. Can’t you bring the pictures here?”

“You have to leave this bed eventually, you can’t sulk here forever. Chibs says that Juice misses you.”

It’s unfair that Danny feels a stab of guilt at that. “Then he can come here to see me if he misses me so much. He can bring the pictures too. I don’t want to go back there.”

Tommy frowns at him, expression reminding him of when they first met, but doesn’t say anything in argument. He sighs one more time before getting up off the bed, taking the plate with him out of the room.

Danny lays back down, ignoring the older man leaving and looks out the window. It’s bright outside, he assumes it’s sometime in the afternoon. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this depressed before, not even when he was living in his big empty apartment alone with his dog before everything happened.

God, he misses Galaxy. Misses the way that she would jump up onto him when he got home, how she would lay on his feet when he was on the couch. He misses being loved unconditionally.

He falls asleep again, he’s not tired, but he just feels exhausted all the same and falls easily into a fitful sleep where he’s not quite awake, but not quite asleep either.  
\-----  
Tom is white knuckling the steering wheel the entire way to the clubhouse. He’s pissed at Julian, he’s pissed at himself for letting Julian bring Danny along with them and getting himself in this fucking mess, pissed at everything because how did this become his life?

He walks into the clubhouse, scanning it for Julian and coming up empty. He narrows his eyes and grabs one of the arm of one of the prospects walking around.

“Where’s Julian?”

The prospect looks scared. “In one of the back rooms.” He stutters out.

Tom doesn’t thank him as he heads to the back. He has to guess which room Julian is in; which isn’t hard considering the noises coming out of one of them. He doesn’t knock, just slams the door open, glaring at Julian and whoever the fuck it is riding him.

The girl hurries off of Julian and covers herself with the bed sheet.

“C’mon, man, cockblocking!” Julian shouts.

Tom looks at the girl. “You, out.”

She huffs, looking like she’s gonna argue, but Julian rubs her arm in some kind of assurance and she gets dressed quickly. She brushes past Tom, glaring at him like he gives a shit on her way out, slamming the door.

Julian sits up, sheets pooling around his waist. “What the fuck, man?”

“What the fuck yourself, dumbass.” Tom throws Julian’s clothes back at him. “Put on some fucking clothes.”

Julian does, huffing. “What’s your problem? Just because I’m getting some doesn’t mean you gotta be all pissed.”

“My _problem_ is that you brought along someone I didn’t even want you to bring along and now he’s fucking sulking at the cabin.”

“That’s not my problem that he’s sulking, is it?”

Tom rolls his eyes. “It is if you fucking caused it!” He yells.

Julian scoffs. “Shouldn’t you be ecstatic about this? You can finally get rid of him like you wanted to.”

“He’s _your_ problem, _I_ shouldn’t have to deal with it.” He crosses his arms. “Besides, we need him now.”

Julian’s eyes narrow. “We don’t.”

“Do _you_ want to pick the locks then?” He asks pointedly.

“They can just shoot ‘em off like they want to.”

Tom pinches the bridge of his nose. He has never wanted to punch Julian as much as he does right now. “Oh, I’m sorry. Have you actually ever fucking robbed a place before? Because it sounds like you haven’t.”

“Look, we don’t need him to pull this off!” Julian’s off the bed, ready to get into Tom’s face.

“We do to pull it off successfully!” Tom hisses.

“Is there something else that’s going on here?” Julian asks, suspicious. “You should be happy that we can get rid of him.” He narrows his eyes. “You get attached to him or something?”

Tom huffs. “Fuck you.”

“That’s it, isn’t it. You’ve been taking care of him and you like him now.” Julian cocks his head to the side. “D’you wanna fuck him too?”

Tom gets in his face, gripping his shirt color. “Don’t you fucking dare presume to think you know what I think. You’re gonna fuck this up because you couldn’t keep your dick in your fucking pants.” He pushes the blonde back. “Just don’t fucking be here tomorrow. Go find some other whore to stick your dick in.” He leaves, slamming the door on his way out.

He ignores everyone else in the clubhouse staring at him as he walks out and back to his car. He pulls out his personal phone, some shitty flip phone he’s had since 2002 that’s still on Drew’s plan, and calls the only number he has on it.

“ _Tommy?_ ”

“Hey, Bledsoe.” Tom greets, letting a smile twitch at the corner of his lips.

There’s a huff of laughter. “ _Still on last name basis, huh? Something must be wrong. I can’t talk long, though._ ”

That’s expected, but still hurts a little that he can’t talk to his _husband_ for as long as he wants. But, he made his choices. “I don’t expect you to. I’m just...stressed.”

“ _Botched robbery or hostage problems?_ ”

Tom doesn’t know how he was lucky enough to get Drew. Can’t understand how Drew accepts - doesn’t necessarily approve - but accepts what his life is now. Can’t understand how Drew stays with him when there’s a very real possibility that he could be arrested and lose his job and get his reputation ripped to threads.

“God...both. Jules fucking other people, Danny loves him and hasn’t left the bed and we need him for this job to go well.”

 Drew hums. “ _You still taking care of him?_ ”

“So what if I am?” He mumbles.

“ _You always wanted a younger brother,_ ” Drew comments. “ _You’re not gonna kill the poor kid, are you?_ ”

Tom can hear the warning in his voice. “No! I just have to get Danny to fucking leave the house.”

“ _I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’re smart. Shit, I’ve, I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you.”_

His smile falls quickly. “Yeah. I...I love you.”

“ _I love you too_.”

The line clicks and goes dead. Tom sighs and tosses the phone onto the passenger's seat. There wasn’t a solution from that conversation, but it made him feel a little better.

“Hey!”

Tom jumps, cursing under his breath and turns to the look out the passenger window. “What the fuck, Juice.”

“Sorry,” Juice doesn’t sound sorry. “But uh, how’s Danny doing?”

“About the same. I tried to get him to come here, but he wasn’t having any of it.” He picks up the phone from the seat and quickly shoves it in his jacket pocket.

“Can I come see him?” Juice asks.

Tom shrugs a shoulder. “If you want. You wanna ride with me or just follow?” He asks, though he already knows the answer.

“I’ll follow. I gotta tell Chibs.”

He nods. “Hey, could you bring the pictures of those locks?” He starts his car.

Juice nods. “Sure.”

Tom smiles at him before he walks back to the clubhouse to get the pictures. Maybe this will be good for Danny; socialize him a little or something.  
\-----  
Danny hears the front door to the cabin open and close, but doesn’t move from where he’s still buried under the covers on the bed. He can hear voices growing louder, coming down the hallway, and then the door swings open.

“Hey,” Tommy says softly. “Juice is here.”

Danny sits up to see Juice and Tommy standing just inside the room. Tommy looks caringly stern and Juice just looks caring. It’s a weird contrast that has Danny furrowing his brows at them.

“This where you been hiding?” Juice asks, smiling.

He tries to smile back, but he thinks it comes out more like a grimace. “Yep.”

Juice coughs awkwardly and Tommy gives Juice look before leaving.

“So?” Danny prompts, rubbing his eyes. “Are you here to tell me that I should go out too?”

“If that’s what you want me to say, sure,” Juice answers, shrugging. “But I actually came to see how you were doing. No one really knows what happened between you and Julian, but I assume it wasn’t anything good.”

Danny looks down. “You’re right, it wasn’t anything good. I just said something I shouldn’t have. I...thought I meant more to Julian than I do. I shouldn’t’ve been surprised honestly.”

“You gotta move on, bro.” Juice says. Danny glares at him and he quickly adds, “Not emotionally, but you could have a go with someone else to try to forget about him.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy.” Danny says, knowing that the situation he’s now isn’t either.

Juice, bless him, doesn’t mention that. “It’ll be good for you. Get you out of this dusty room and into bed with someone hot.”

“No, really, I do -”

“I already have someone in mind, so you might as well say yes. It’s just a hookup.” Juice declares, cutting off his protests.

“I’ve never done a hookup before,” He says quietly. “I’ve had sex once.”

Juice’s eyes widen. “Really? Well, even better! The guy is super nice and chill, he’ll totally understand your position.”

Maybe it would be good to get out of here. “...Alright.”

“Seriously?” Juice asks, smiling. “Awesome! I’ll call him tonight. Be ready by Tomorrow.” He seems to excited by this.

"Tomorrow? That soon?" 

"Well if you wait too long, you'll over think it and then back out." Juice points out.

And yeah, that makes sense, he's already starting to overthink it. He just nods and asks, “Do you...do this often?”

“Set people up?” He shakes his head. “No, not really, but you’re a friend.”

Danny feels a smile tug at his lips. He’s never had many friends before.

“So, uh,” Juice continues. “I have some pictures I’m obligated to show you.”

He knows where this is going. “Do they happen to be of locks?”

Juice laughs. “Yeah, sorry.” He pulls the pictures from his jacket and hands them to Danny.

The brunette takes them and squints down at them. There’s two locks, both six pin tumblers.

He thinks he might be able to get them open in ten minutes, maybe less.

“I can pick these.”

Juice face brightens. “Sweet! We thought Julian might’ve just been bragging about you, but this is great!” He takes the pictures back. “You think you could come down to the clubhouse so the guys know we’re set on the locks?”

Danny bites his lip, knows he’s being cowardly when he says, “Just tell them for me. I can pick them in about ten minutes.”

Juice accepts the answer, looking concerned. “Alright. You’ll be there tomorrow, though, right?”

“What? Oh, yeah, totally,” He says, bobbing his head in a nod. “I’ll be there.” He’s already lying back down as Juice stands and leaves. He sighs. He doesn’t know if he really wants to sleep with whoever Juice is going to call; really only wanting to sleep with Julian, but he figures if this is how normal people get over people, he might as well try it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Yell at me about shit, I'm down with that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering where I was it was buried under wind, snow, depression and lack of motivation to do anything. That and the cripplingness of having no money or ambition to get interviews with places who won't hire someone who looks like me. This is mostly smut, hope it's alright.
> 
> Also, notice updated tags!

Danny doesn’t tell Tommy about the blind...whatever it is. He thinks Tommy knows, just doesn’t want to say anything, which is fine by him; he’s feeling anxious enough as it is. He’s showered and shaved, put on cleanish clothes and for the first time in almost a week, doesn’t look like death.

While Tommy is kind enough not to say anything about Danny trying to impress someone, he does ask why he suddenly wants to go to the clubhouse.

“Just, because, you know...Juice said he wouldn’t tell the others that I could help with the, um, locks.” Danny answers.

Tommy looks skeptical. “Uh huh. You guys are up to something,” He sighs. “I don’t want to know what, just make sure no one dies.”

Danny nods.  
\-----  
The clubhouse is marginally empty when they get there, only Jax, Juice, and Chibs the only members of the gang there. There’s a woman standing next to Jax, brunette, who gets introduced as Tara; a doctor who seems almost as out of place as himself.

Tommy marches him up to Jax first.

“Hey, Jax,” Tommy greets. “Got some good news.” He motions to Danny.

“Yeah, um, I can get the locks open. If you need me to.” Danny says.

Jax smiles. “Great! I’ll be sure to tell Clay.”

He smiles at the blonde -- a fake smile, but it’s still kind of a smile -- and then Juice is next to him.

“Hey, man, you made it. Awesome. This way.” Juice drags him over to the bar where Chibs is sitting with another guy.

“Danny, good to see ya, lad.” Chibs greets him with a nod that Danny returns.

“Uh, you too.” He sneaks a glance at the guy next to him. He’s tall and broad, with blonde hair that reaches his shoulders and a couple weeks worth of stubble on his face. He’s wearing a leather jacket and he looks like someone that could kill Danny with his hands.

“So this is Chris,” Juice introduces broad and blonde to him. “He’s super awesome and I’ve explained your situation to him,”

“My situation?”

“You know, loving a guy that doesn’t love you back.” Juice explains, pushing Danny onto the stool. “So you guys sit here and chat. Me and Chibs are gonna go somewhere not here.” 

“We are?”

“ _Yes_ , come on.” Juice says pointedly. Chibs lets himself get dragged off, just managing to grab his beer bottle on the way. They go over to where Tommy and Jax are talking.

“Uh..hey,” Danny greets awkwardly.

The guy - Chris - smiles at him. “So Juice explained, but it’s hard to believe that someone looking like you has unrequited love.”

He feels his cheeks heat. “Uh, well, Julian obviously doesn’t feel that way.” The door to the clubhouse opens and closes and there’s two voices. One is a woman’s Danny doesn’t recognize and the other is undoubtedly Julian’s. He resists the urge to look, looks anyway.

Chris follows his gaze. “That’s him?”

He swallows hard. “Yeah.” He averts his gaze quickly. “Sleeping with...whores.” Danny hasn’t ever been crass enough to call anyone that, but things have changed. He groans. “I want to die.”

Chris laughs. “Well he keeps glancing over here. What, does he have jealousy problems?”

 “He shouldn’t,” Danny answers, remembers Julian’s _you should stay away from my things_. “He hasn’t really had a chance to be, I guess.”

“Should we give him that chance?”

He looks at Chris, wide eyed. “What?”

“Give him a chance to get jealous,” Chris answers, leaning forward. “A lot of times if you get someone riled up enough, jealousy will turn its head and problem solved.” He explains it like it’s simple.

“And that works?” Danny asks skeptically.

Chris shrugs. “Has the few times I’ve done it.”

“Wait, wait, are you just a guy who helps people make other people jealous?” He asks, incredulous.

“If the shoe fits.” Chris answers, resting a hand on Danny’s arm.

Danny feels eyes on him and he peers over Chris’ shoulder at Julian who’s looking at them with a frown.

“You wanna get outta here?” Chris asks. His eyes are warm with a twinkle of mischief that tell Danny he’s not being serious, just putting on an act where Julian can see it. It makes Danny feel like he’s in highschool, trying to make the head cheerleader jealous by flirting with the school’s quarterback. It didn’t work then and he doubts it’ll work here, but he’s willing to give it a try.

He nods. “Sure.”

Getting out of there consists of leaving the clubhouse and walking to some nearby park where there’s a family sitting at one of the picnic tables. The parents give them both a look, but otherwise say nothing.

“So how’d you get involved with Julian anyway?” Chris asks around a cigarette.

Danny debates telling him the truth, thinks he shouldn’t, does anyway. “I was a hostage. Tommy wanted to get rid of me, Julian didn’t. Julian won the argument because Tommy’s a pushover and here I am.” There was more to it than that, but Danny figures he can keep his virginity loss out of it.

“You didn’t want to leave after you were given the choice?”

“What choice? I wasn’t given a choice. It was just one day Julian didn’t want me anymore. I never really had a choice...I don’t even have anything to go back too.” Danny changes the subject. “Why aren’t you in the gang?”

“Not my thing,” Chris answers simply. “I’m not about shooting people and gang wars; I just help out when I’m needed. Preferably in non shooting ways.”

 Danny hums. “So do you have some kind of normal job then?”

 Chris chuckles. “Sure.” And leaves it at that.

It sounds kind of nice, having a normal job where he doesn’t have to worry about being shot or dropped. He wonders what might have happened if he met Julian under different circumstances. If Julian wasn’t a criminal and Danny wasn’t some lonely person itching for something more in life. Maybe they’d be able to be an actual relationship and not whatever they ended up being now.

“Hey,” Chris says, bringing Danny from his thoughts. “Why don’t you meet me at the clubhouse tomorrow. Blondie definitely likes you - I could feel him glaring at me the whole time.”

“What am I supposed to do tomorrow?” Danny asks, amused at Chris’ nickname for Julian.

“Hook up.”

“What?”

“Not actually hook up, we’ll just go into a back room when Julian’s there and he’ll probably  come bursting in. Trust me, it’ll work.” Chris says. He looks considerate for a few seconds. “And if it doesn’t, well we can always have a little fun anyway.” He jokes, winking.

Danny feels his cheeks turn pink and laughs, only a little unsure if Chris is joking or not. “I doubt that he’ll care enough to do anything.” He says honestly.

Chris smirks. “Well then maybe we’ll get to have a little fun, then. It wouldn’t have to mean anything.” He reassures.

“Yeah, alright.” He replies, face red and a little breathless.

“So, tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow.”  
\-----  
When Danny goes to the clubhouse the next day with Tommy, the latter still doesn’t mention anything about it, but he does give the brunette more sideways looks on the way.

Danny gets grabbed and pulled towards the back of the clubhouse when he enters, feeling slight deja vu, barely being able to spare Julian a glance before Chris has him in an empty bedroom that looks used. He smiles up at Chris, face red at the prospect of what’s probably going to happen - what could possibly happen.

“You’re sure about this?” Chris asks. “Because, like, we don’t have to do anything.”

“No, no,” Danny says, a little shaky. “I’m...yes. This is good. I’m good.”

Chris takes a step towards him. “Remember, just a rebound. This doesn’t need to mean anything.”  He reminds.

Danny nods. “Let’s, uh, how should we -”

He’s cut off by lips connecting with his. He melts into it, lets himself forget where he is, but he doesn’t forget who he’s kissing. Lips that are chapped, not soft, hands with calluses in the wrong places, hair blonde, but longer. It’s easy to remember who he’s kissing, and it’s not the person he really wants to be kissing.

Chris gets Danny’s shirt off, and pushes him onto the bed, gazing at him with questioning eyes.

 He hesitates and hopes, but doesn’t expect for Julian to come bursting through the door, the surprise on his face genuine when Julian does just that.

Chris’ eyes widen and he smirks at Danny. An _I told you so_ all over his expression. Chris turns to face Julian. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can get the fuck off of my things.” Julian growls.

Chris sighs. “Yeah, whatever. Don’t blow a gasket over there.” He turns to Danny as he shrugs his leather jacket back on. “Give me a call if you ever change your mind, yeah?”

Danny nods and smiles at him; a silent thanks between the two of them. Chris brushes past Julian who slams the door shut and turns his glare to Danny.

Danny’s off the bed by this point, glaring at Julian. “What the fuck, Julian?”

The blonde stalks towards him, grabbing him quickly and slamming him up against the wall, lips clashing with his in a kiss that’s more teeth than anything else. He groans in surprise, but catches his wits fairly quickly and kisses Julian back just as hard; anger and longing mixing together. God, he’s missed this.

“So you get to fuck other people, but I can’t?” Danny demands between harsh kisses.

Julian growls and slams him against the wall again, making his breath leave him in a rush. His head slams against the wall and he growls, fingers gripping and tugging hard at Julian’s hair in retaliation. The other doesn’t seem deterred, instead biting and sucking at Danny’s neck, leaving red and purple blossoming on his skin.

“You can’t just - _shit_ \- come in and -” He cuts himself off with a hitched breath when Julian cups his half hard cock through his jeans.

Julian looks at him, smug. “Seems a lot like I can.” It’s the first words that Julian’s spoken to him and it makes him angrier.

“You’re an asshole,” He mutters, pulling at Julian’s shirt to get it off.  “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” Julian says back easily, smirking at him. He takes his shirt off and manages to get Danny’s pants down around his thighs, telling him without words to strip as well.

Danny hates him because he’s right. His jaw is clenched as he watches Julian strip. He takes off the rest of his clothes slowly, eyes never leaving the other. He backs up as Julian advances, matching each other step for step, until he’s up against the wall in the same position they were in before.

He can almost feel the anger surrounding Julian and he swallows hard. He’s still angry. Angry that Julian can just come in and affect him like this. Hands slam up against the wall next to his head, arms boxing him in.

“Why?” He asks, raising his own hands to grip at Julian’s wrists.

“Why what?”

He goes to answer, but lips connecting to his interrupts him, so he’s left to say his answer against swollen lips. “Why are you doing this?”

Julian looks at him, amused eyes gazing into his own. “Because you’re mine.”

 It makes anger and warmth battle in his chest and he narrows his eyes, glaring at Julian. “You made it pretty clear to me that I wasn’t when you were on that whore and telling me to leave.”

“Were you jealous?” Julian asks like the answer isn’t obvious.

“Of course I was,” He hisses. He tightens his hands and looks somewhere over Julian’s shoulder, unable to make eye contact. “I love you.”

Julian moves his right arm, causing Danny’s hand to fall away, and cups his face. “Don’t be jealous.”

“Don’t sleep with whores then.”

Julian kisses him, answering against his lips. “It was only the one.”

He jerks back. “That doesn’t make it better.”

“Well what were you about to do, huh? Sleep with the first guy who wants it?” Julian hisses, anger returning to his face. He brings his forearm to Danny’s throat, not pushing hard, but enough to be noticed.

“Like you’re any fucking better. You come in here acting like I’m your property, getting pissed off that someone’s touched me, like you never told me to leave or else you’d put a fucking gun to my head.” Danny hisses back. The arm against his throat pushes, making it harder to breathe.

“Do you even have a condom?” Julian asks, eyes smug in a way that makes Danny want to punch him.

He doesn’t look at Julian as his face burns, either from the lack of oxygen or embarrassment he can’t be sure.

Julian scoffs. “Course you don’t. Bet you didn’t even tell him you’ve only gotten fucked less than three times.”

Danny brings his hand and claws at the blonde’s forearm, causing him to hiss and drop it. He gasps in a few breaths of air before there’s a hand on his throat and he’s choking all over again. Despite him trying to get the hand off his throat, he can’t help but realize that his dick is still achingly hard.

The spark of anger in Julian’s eyes vanishes and the hand on his throat loosens until it vanishes completely.

“You’re gorgeous.” Julian whispers, so quiet that for a second Danny isn’t sure if he really said it.

He doesn’t know how to respond, luckily doesn’t need to because Julian is kissing him again; teeth clacking together, making him groan. His lips already feel bruised.

He’s lost in the kiss, lightheaded and dizzy, and then there’s a hand gripping onto his thigh and lifting it up. Fingers, wet with something Danny doesn’t know, nudge against his hole, earning a surprised squeak.

 

“Relax,” Julian whispers. “I know you’re still...mostly virgin.”

Danny would slap the blonde if he could, but he’s too busy trying to swallow down the noise that wants to escape from his chest. Julian’s other hand cups his face, thumb pulling out his bottom lip that he has clamped between his teeth.

“You can make noise, you know.” Julian says.

He goes to hiss something back, but Julian’s fingers crook upwards and he finds himself moaning instead.

“That’s right,” Julian coos. “Be loud for me. Let everyone know who you belong too.”

That shouldn’t make Danny so hot, thinking of everyone knowing that he belongs to Julian -- that Julian belongs to him in return.

“You’re so pretty,” Julian whispers, fingers scissoring and pressing against his prostate. “No one would be able to appreciate you as much as me, you know that?”

He rolls his eyes. “‘Cause you appreciated it so much before.”

He doesn’t get a response, only a hand cupping his face taps him on the cheek, not hard but not softly either.

“You know, for someone about to get fucked, you should be a little more grateful.” Julian growls, fingers pressing in harder and faster.

The lines between anger and lust start to blur together. He wants to stay angry at Julian, wants to hate him and give back as good as he gets, but he’s quickly losing his will to argue against everything else that wants to just _give in_.

Two fingers turn into three and then Danny is being lifted. His arms wrap around Julian’s neck in a desperate grip, leans more of his weight onto him. Julian lifts him higher, forcing him to roll up onto the ball of his foot.

The stretch burns, there’s not enough lube and it’s rushed, but Julian is bumping his fingers against his prostate, making it bearable. He’s whimpering, high in his throat, just starting to get into it when Julian removes his fingers.

“Love being able to take all your firsts.” Julian mumbles, taking his other hand and bringing Danny’s other leg up.

Danny flails, yelping. “What the fuck, Julian.” He breathes out.

Julian looks at him innocently. “What? Never been fucked against a wall?”

He glares in response, secretly amazed at the way Julian is easily holding him up. He always figured this was something that happened in porn or poorly written erotica.

Julian chuckles and kisses him. “You look sweet all flushed and pouting.”

“You look like a fuckin -” Danny’s mumbles get cut off when Julian manages to sink him down onto his cock. How he manages it, Danny’s unsure and he doesn’t really care because, _God_ , he’s missed sex. Sex with Julian specifically.

“You were saying?”

Danny doesn’t try to answer, aware that Julian would just try his best to get him to swallow his tongue again. He wraps his legs around Julian’s waist instead, wonders how long he’ll be able to keep this up.

He’s pushed hard against the wall, feeling like his back must be bruised by now. It gives him something to lean back on, more support, and he’s able to look at Julian’s face. Julian is flushed almost as much as himself, strands of blonde hair hanging in front of his face. His eyes are dark, he looks like an animal and it makes Danny squirm despite the slow movement of his hips.

“Forgot how tight you are.” Julian growls, jostling Danny, making his cock rub against him in all the right ways.

Danny whimpers in response. He drops his head to lean on Julian’s shoulder, looking down at his hard cock between their bodies. He wants to come, wanted to for what feels like forever, but he doesn’t want what’s happening to end. Scared that Julian will leave right after and go back to that blonde whore he wants to stab.

Julian pushes his hips in hard, Danny’s head flying back and hitting the wall, stars swirling in his eyes for a brief twenty seconds.

“Fuck, ‘m gonna come.” Danny gasps out, toes curling.

“Do it,” Julian encourages. “Come for me.”

Danny reaches a hand down and strokes himself, choking around his breath and shuddering as he comes hard over his fist and stomach, whimpering through it. He doesn’t know when he closed his eyes, but when he opens them Julian is smirking at him.

“Forgot how pretty you are when you come.” Julian says, breathless.

Danny can’t find it in him to make some kind of comment back, just huffs out a breath and hangs on to Julian. He’s whimpering and twitching as Julian walks them over to the bed and sits on it, Danny straddling his lap.

“Does it hurt?” Julian asks, cupping his face.

He shakes his head. “No,” He shivers. “Just...slow.”

Julian hums, adding more bruises to Danny’s hips and slowly moves him.

He chokes on a whimper, over sensitive, but not hurting. He kisses Julian, desperate and needing something hard to clash against. The kiss achieves that, teeth clacking together, bruised lips becoming worse.

He pulls away when his lungs burn for air and refrains from saying anything, worried that _I love you_ will make an appearance. He’s more relaxed now, less sensitive and moving with Julian, and breathing out quiet whimpering noises.

His whimpering noises get louder when Julian lifts him up and off his cock. He drops Danny onto his back on the bed and kneels over him, pressing back in slowly. He can see Julian’s arms at either side of his head, holding him up, and he grabs them, moaning.

Julian gives him a minute to adjust before he pulls his hips back and snaps them back in. Danny gasps, breath coming out in a whine that he’d be embarrassed about anywhere else. 

“That’s it,” Julian growls. “Take it.”

Danny can’t do anything but; Julian’s hips snapping against his, prostate getting hit every thrust. His cock is hard again, smearing precome on his clenching stomach. He’s whimpering, tearing and scratching at Julian’s back, leaving red welts and worse in his wake.

“I’m gonna make you come again.” Julian promises.

He’s not sure what the sound that comes out of his mouth is, but he doesn’t care because Julian’s hand is on his dick again and he wants to fucking cry.

“I...I can’t - _please_ .” He sobs. He’s sweaty and there are tears in the corner of his eyes that manage to spill over when Julian hits his prostate _again_.

“You’re gonna come again,” Julian repeats. “And you’re gonna remember that you’re mine.”

“Yes, yours.” He sobs out. His head tips back onto the bed, tears falling to his temples. _God_ , he feels like he’s going to fucking die if Julian keeps this up.

Julian gets a hand around his dick again, stroking him soft and hard and too fast and too slow all at once. Danny shouts, loud and helpless, pleasure of _too much_ coiling at the base of his spine and spilling out all around him.

“Come on,” Julian coaxes. “Be a good boy for me and come.”

Danny doesn’t want to, doesn’t know if he fucking can, but Julian isn’t deterred, just strokes him harder until he’s wailing and coming over himself again. And Julian _still doesn’t fucking stop_.

“I fucking hate you.” He chokes out around broken moans and sobs. “God, just fucking... _fuck_.” He gives up at words after that, going pliant and letting Julian’s hips slam against his again and again. His eyes are rolled into the back of his head, feeling like sweat is pouring off of him. “Just fucking come already.” He whimpers out quietly.

“What,” Julian pants out. “And then miss all your pretty faces you’re making?”

Danny’s sure he somehow manages to blush, despite how red his face must already be.

“You’re a sadist.”

Julian rolls his eyes, pushing his hips in again. “You’re dramatic.”

Danny brings a hand up to slap him, but Julian catches it, interlacing their fingers together and pinning them to the bed.

“Fucking come already,” He complains. “‘M too sensitive.”

“Fine, alright.” Julian says, like an asshole. He kneels and grabs onto Danny’s bruised laden hips and pulls him against his own.

Julian lays a hand on the brunette’s throat, pressing down and squeezing. It makes his cock try to twitch feebly and he knows that Julian is doing this because he wants to leave marks where he knows everyone will see them. Danny is aware that he’s whimpering with every thrust, tears on his face and looking absolutely fucking wrecked, struggling to breathe and wondering if he can actually survive this fucking torture.

He does, somehow, Julian coming with a growl, fingers tightening on his throat making him choke, whole body shivering and twitching until Julian’s hips slow down then stop.

Julian pulls his softening cock out, causing Danny to whimper softly. He moans in surprise when Julian leans down and kisses him gently, his heart skipping a beat. He runs his hands through the blonde’s hair and tries hard to remember this in case Julian decides he doesn’t want anything else but this.

He half expects Julian to get up, pull his pants up and leave, but is surprised again when Julian instead collapses next to him and pulls him into his arms. They’re both sweaty and gross, but Julian doesn’t seem to care, holding him tightly in his arms.

“You’re not allowed to sleep with other people. You’re mine.” Julian says softly.

Danny nods absently, agreeing. “So does this mean you love me?” He asks breathlessly.

Julian is silent for a second before letting out his breath in a huff and saying, “Guess it does.”

And that’s not an _I love you_ , but it’s an agreement and Danny smiles against the pillow,accepting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let us hope the lack of motivation will leave. I haven't gotten anything done.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave comments or kudos or criticisms! <3


End file.
